HM Treasury

Thames Tideway Tunnel

Roger Mullin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are arising from the Government financial support package for the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project.

Damian Hinds: A Written Ministerial Statement of 5 June 2014 (Official Record, Col. 11WS) sets out the reasons for the Government’s decision to provide contingent financial support for the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, and the scope of that provision. The support package is designed to make sure that taxpayers’ interests are protected throughout the construction phase to which it applies.   The likelihood of the support package being called upon is remote, and there will no spending by the UK Government unless it is called upon. Should new funding ultimately be provided to UK Government departments in support of the project, the Barnett formula will apply in the usual way.

Horse Racing: Betting

George Kerevan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.152 of Budget 2015, HC1093, what progress his Department has made on introducing a new Horserace Betting Right.

Damian Hinds: The Government remains committed to replacing the current levy system to create a level playing field for British based and offshore gambling operators. Responsibility for implementing this policy rests with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.   It has always been recognised that more work will be needed on the detailed design of a Horserace Betting Right. This work is now under way and DCMS expect it to be completed later this year. A target date for introducing a bill has not been set as this will depend on both the completion of the detailed design work and the availability of Parliamentary time.

Small Businesses: Finance

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking in response to the outcome of the Government's consultation on matching SMEs rejected for finance with alternative lenders.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government took powers in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 to require the UK’s major banks to offer SMEs they reject for finance the opportunity to be referred to Finance Platforms that can help match them with alternative finance providers.   The Government will lay Secondary Legislation implementing the policy before Parliament as soon as is practicable.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page two of the Impact Assessment for the Childcare Payments Act 2014, if he will make an updated estimate of the number of families who will be better off under the new scheme once free childcare for working families is doubled to 30 hours per week from 2016.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not currently available. The latest information on tax free childcare and childcare places can be found on gov.uk.

Welfare Tax Credits

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the potential effectiveness of voice recognition technology in reducing fraud and error in payment of tax credits.

Damian Hinds: HM Revenue and Customers has not made any such assessment.   The department uses IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) technology to undertake security checks with customers calling its helplines and also to ensure that callers are directed to an adviser who has the skills and knowledge to answer their query.

Married People: Tax Allowances

Damian Green: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what timetable he has set for enabling people to claim the marriage allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: The Marriage Allowance came into effect on April 6 2015. It allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer 10 per cent of their personal allowance to their partner, provided that neither of them pay tax at the higher or additional rate. Eligible couples have been able to register their interest in the allowance since 20 February 2015 through GOV.uk and are being invited by HMRC to complete the application process through an online platform. Eligible couples who have not been able to register for the Marriage Allowance online, will be able to apply for the service after the Summer and will receive the full financial benefit for the 15-16 tax year, regardless of when in the year they apply.

National Insurance Contributions

Charlotte Leslie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to repay people who have made excess class 3 voluntary National Insurance contributions who will not qualify for state pension because of the introduction of a 30-year qualifying period in 2010.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has no plans to make refunds of Class 3 voluntary National Insurance contributions paid prior to publication of the White Paper “Security in retirement – towards a new pensions system” which was published on 25 May 2006 and proposed a reduction in the number of qualifying years for a State Pension to 30, which eventually came into force from 6 April 2010. As these contributions were correctly paid at the time and cannot be refunded. Individuals who made voluntary National Insurance contributions between 25 May 2006 and 26 July 2007 (or 11 February 2008 in the case of Northern Ireland), but would have chosen not to do so had they been aware of the Government's intention to reduce the number of qualifying years required for a full basic State Pension to 30, may be entitled to a refund because the contributions could have been paid in error. From 6 April 2016 the number of qualifying years needed for the new State Pension will increase to 35.

Mortgages: Older People

Mr David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mortgage holders over the age of 65 are not discriminated against.

Harriett Baldwin: The government is aware of recent reports that some older borrowers have encountered difficulties in getting a mortgage. While some lenders do have age limits in place beyond which they do not lend, this will not be the case for all lenders.   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for the rules that protect consumers taking out a mortgage. At the heart of their rules is a requirement that lenders should treat borrowers fairly. Following the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in April last year, the FCA is continuing to review how their rules are being implemented to ensure that they are working as intended. The operation of the MMR and other mortgage lending rules is a matter for the FCA, whose day-to-day operations are independent from government.

Fuels: Rebates

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the Rural Fuel Rebate scheme operating in parts of Scotland and England to Northern Ireland.

Damian Hinds: All areas that met strict criteria around pump price, population density and cost of fuel transportation were included in the extension to the Rural Fuel Rebate introduced from April 2015. No areas in Northern Ireland were found to meet these criteria.

Working Tax Credit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency are in receipt of the disability element of working tax credit.

Damian Hinds: Geographical breakdowns of tax credits are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2013-to-2014’

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of waiting times for members of the public calling the HM Revenue and Customs self assessment helpline.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of calls to the HM Revenue and Customs self assessment helpline were abandoned without answer in each of the last three years; and what the median waiting time was for such abandoned calls.

Mr David Gauke: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs publishes regular performance reports, which are available on Gov.uk.

Welfare Tax Credits: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency are in receipt of (i) child tax credit, (ii) working tax credit and (iii) both such credits.

Damian Hinds: Geographical breakdowns of tax credits are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2013-to-2014'

Taxation: Self-assessment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken was for HM Revenue and Customs to send out self assessment tax forms and online assessment password details in the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke: Information on registering for a self-assessment account is set out at www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/overview.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many calls to the HM Revenue and Customs self-assessment helpline were (a) abandoned by callers and (b) answered after a period of (i) 15, (ii) 30 and (iii) 45 minutes in the latest year for which data are available.

Mr David Gauke: In December 2014, HMRC introduced a new telephony system and the data is not held in the format requested.   HMRC publish their performance data on a quarterly basis on Gov.UK.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs officials on improving waiting times for members of the public calling that Department's self-assessment helpline.

Mr David Gauke: Ministers regularly meet with officials as part of the process of policy development and delivery.   HM Revenue and Customs has allocated £45 million, supporting the recruitment of an additional 3,000 customer service staff to answer calls and deal with customer correspondence.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2015 to Question 4306, whether he plans that the child element of child tax credit will be the same as the child element of universal credit throughout the roll-out of universal credit.

Damian Hinds: I refer the honourable gentleman to my answer of 1 July 2015 which can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-25/4306/

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Absent Voting

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Commission will extend eligibility for emergency proxy votes to healthy people who are unable to vote because they need to be with a family member who is undergoing medical treatment.

Mr Gary Streeter: The eligibility criteria for emergency proxy votes are set out in legislation, and are therefore a matter for the UK and Scottish governments and their respective parliaments. The Electoral Commission continues to recommend that the UK and Scottish governments should extend the eligibility criteria for appointing an emergency proxy to include those who have unforeseen caring responsibilities or who have experienced the death of a close relative, and will reiterate this recommendation in its report on the May 2015 elections.

Prime Minister

Children: Protection

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 24 June 2015 to the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds, Official Report, column 886, how the Child Protection Taskforce plans to engage with the child protection profession, children's services departments and practising social workers.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 24 June 2015 to the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds, Official Report, column 886, how the Child Protection Taskforce plans to engage with backbench and Opposition hon. Members; and if he will expand the membership of that body to include representatives from those groups.

Mr David Cameron: The Child Protection Taskforce will drive forward fundamental reforms to protect the most vulnerable children in our society, focusing on transforming social work, children’s services practice and the accountability arrangements for child protection. The Taskforce will take careful account of the views of experts and leaders across children’s services, social work and the child protection profession, and will engage closely with elected representatives as this critical work progresses.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of carrying out the personal independence payment assessments on people with lifelong or degenerative conditions who are receiving disability living allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: This information is not available as we do not break down costs by condition type.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment decisions based on Capita assessments have been taken to mandatory reconsideration on the ground that the assessment was inaccurate; and what proportion of those mandatory reconsiderations have been successful.

Justin Tomlinson: The information is not available. The Department has published information about mandatory reconsideration applications against Personal Independence Payments which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2015

Department for Work and Pensions: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by his Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies (April 2012), Government Departments are required to publicise successful appointments. Announcements about public appointments are made on GOV.UK or the individual body’s website.

Children: Poverty

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children in the West Midlands region live in poverty.

Priti Patel: Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. Analysis by region is presented as three-year averages as single-year estimates are considered too volatile. Figures are presented in financial year estimates and are available up to 2013/14. The latest publication is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014

Social Security Benefits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households have been exempted from the benefits cap as a result of a new personal independence payment or disability living allowance claim.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are receiving more than £26,000 per year in benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Carer's Allowance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in receipt of two payments of carer's allowance in order that each person can care for the other.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

Social Security Benefits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) benefit and (b) pension claims are paid into Coutts bank accounts.

Justin Tomlinson: The information is not available in the format requested.

Social Security Benefits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential effectiveness of voice recognition technology in reducing fraud and error in payment of benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP has started considering the value of Voice Biometrics to support the move to digital self-service with Cabinet Office GDS and Open Identity Exchange (OIX).

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentres in each region (a) do and (b) do not enable clients to claim universal credit.

Priti Patel: Universal Credit is now available in nearly 50% of all Jobcentre areas nationally, and within at least one office in every District. It will be in every jobcentre by Spring 2016.

Universal Credit: Cheshire

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit applicants have been asked to travel from Neston Job Centre to Ellesmere Port Job Centre to make their claim because IT systems at Neston did not fully support the delivery of universal credit.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentres in each region have had to ask applicants to travel to another jobcentre to make their universal credit claim due to problems with IT systems.

Priti Patel: We have been asking claimants in the Neston area to temporarily attend Ellesmere Port Jobcentre while we work to upgrade the service. This only affects a very small number of claimants, and all those affected have been reimbursed for any associated travel costs. We expect to resume the full service at Neston in the near future. No other jobcentre has been affected.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons unsuccessful applications for Short Term Benefit Advance in 2014.

Priti Patel: A Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA) is an advance payment of benefit normally paid at the start of a new claim to claimants who meet the qualifying criteria. Circumstances in which an STBA may not be paid include where there is some doubt as to whether the claimant will be entitled to the benefit.

Homelessness

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the benefit cap on levels of homelessness in each year since its introduction.

Justin Tomlinson: In December 2014 DWP published a suite of evaluation reports available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-evaluation. These found very little, if any, impact on homelessness as a direct result of the cap. The small number of capped households who have been evicted were noted by Local Authorities as having other reasons (beyond the cap) for rent arrears and also failing to engage with relevant services; they were considered intentionally homeless.

Sheep Dipping: Organophosphates

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the contribution by the Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 10 June 2015, Official Report, column 136WH, on organophosphate sheep dip, in what ways the Health and Safety Executive made the report referred to in that contribution and its content publicly available.

Justin Tomlinson: The Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made reference to the 1991 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report that presented the findings of a 1990 survey of sheep dipping. The report was published by HSE as an internal document in May 1991. The report was discussed at a meeting of the then Health and Safety Commission’s Agricultural Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) working group, Chemicals In Agriculture (ChemAg), on 10 July 1991. The ChemAg working group membership included HSE, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and other industry organisations. It is not possible to say with certainty what wider dissemination of the report there was, however, the September 1991 version of HSE’s published advisory leaflet “Sheep Dipping, Protect your health” (see attached) gives advice about the measures necessary to use dips safely and reflects the findings of the 1990 survey.The 1990 survey also proposed additional work to further quantify the problems identified. This work was referred to in a press release (attached), issued in July 1993 that sets out the poor practice identified on farms using sheep dips and gives a summary of the sheep dip study findings.



Sheep Dipping, Protect your health
(PDF Document, 1.33 MB)




Press release
(PDF Document, 1.5 MB)

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential effect on the savings arising from implementing the Universal Credit (Waiting Days) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 of removing housing costs from the scope of those regulations.

Priti Patel: The information requested can be found at Paragraph 26 of the report by the Social Security Advisory Committee, attached here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434281/universal-credit-waiting-days-report.pdf

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what employment support initiatives his Department plans to fund from savings arising from implementation of the Universal Credit (Waiting Days) (Amendment) Regulations 2015; and when he plans to commence those initiatives.

Priti Patel: The principle behind the waiting days is that benefits are not designed to provide cover for brief spells of unemployment. We expect savings of around £150m per annum which will be used to fund measures to get people off benefit and into work and will particularly help those who are likely to be long- term benefit recipients. These include English Language Training, targeting those for whom language is a barrier to work, and additional voluntary support for lone parents with children aged 3-4.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of families with children affected by the benefit cap have a child under (a) one year old, (b) two years old, (c) three years old and (d) four years old.

Justin Tomlinson: The information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Home Office

British Transport Police: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers there were in the British Transport Police in London in each year since 2008.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



The Home Office collects figures on the number of officers in the British Transport Police, but cannot separately identify those who work in London.The numbers of full time equivalent officers working in BTP included in the table below. These cannot be broken down regionally.As at:Number of officers31 Mar 20082,57931 Mar 20092,63831 Mar 20102,67731 Mar 20112,63131 Mar 20122,55731 Mar 20132,65231 Mar 20142,91230 Sep 20142,912

Overseas Students: English Language

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from higher education institutions on the proposed reduction of English Language test centres.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office receives regular correspondence from the Higher Education sector and investigation to date indicate that since the General Election on 7th May 2015 the Home Office has received one representation on behalf of a higher education institution regarding the reduction of English Language test centres.

Immigration

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Office for National Statistics' latest annual population statistics to June 2014, what steps she is taking to ensure that annual net migration is brought back down to the tens of thousands.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 01 July 2015



Uncontrolled, mass immigration makes it difficult to maintain social cohesion, puts pressure on public services, and can force down wages. That's why we are working to reduce net migration.Under the last government, we cracked down on visa abuse, including removing licences from nearly 900 bogus colleges, and introduced the 2014 Immigration Act to create controls on accessing benefits and services which are among the tightest in Europe.But this government will go further still. Our new Immigration Bill will create a new offence of illegal working and extend our deport-first-appeal-later approach to ensure even more illegal migrants are removed from the UK.We are also working with the independent Migration Advisory Committee to reduce economic migration from outside the EU, and we will reform our labour market rules to crack down on the exploitation of low-skilled workers.As the Prime Minister has set out, we will address the incentives for migration from the EU which have led to mass immigration from Europe. We will deliver these proposals, and our commitments in the manifesto, with a new Immigration Taskforce, chaired by the Prime Minister, which will ensure every part of government plays a part in helping control immigration.

Sexual Offences: Criminal Investigation

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost has been of investigations into sexual offences in (a) North Wales and (b) the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Karen Bradley: The cost of investigating specific offences is not held centrally.

Sexual Offences: Criminal Investigation

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) police officers and (b) police civilian staff in (i) North Wales and (ii) the UK have been allocated to investigation of sexual offences in each of the last 10 years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of police officers or staff that have been assigned to investigate sexual offences.The deployment of police officers locally is an operational matter for Chief Constables, in conjunction with their Police and Crime Commissioners

National Crime Agency: Staff

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff of the National Crime Agency previously worked for the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Karen Bradley: As at 31 May 2015, 3,323 National Crime Agency officers had previously worked for the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Police: Restraint Techniques

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that there is effective oversight of (a) the use of restraint against black and minority ethnic groups and those with mental health issues and (b) other use of force by the police.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police forces report incidents of the use of force on individuals by police officers and the ethnicity and ages of those such force is used against.

Mike Penning: The police collect data nationally on some types of force used in the deployment of their duties, such as Taser and firearms. There is no single reporting mechanism for police forces on all uses of force, including restraint, and the Home Office does not currently collect information routinely on its use. At the Black Mental Health and Home Office Summit on 23 October, the Home Secretary announced that the national policing lead, Chief Constable David Shaw will conduct an in-depth review of the publication of Taser data and other use of force by police officers. This will present options for publishing the data on how police officers are deploying these sensitive powers, who they are being used on and what the outcome was. Work is also underway with a number of forces, on a voluntary basis, to improve information held locally about those who are detained by the police under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Five forces have to date provided some initial information for the months of April and May in relation to the age, gender and ethnicity of such individuals and whether restraint was used. The police must be able to use force to protect the public, vulnerable people and themselves. However, the Government is clear that any use of force, including restraint, must be lawful, proportionate and necessary in all circumstances.

Police Community Support Officers

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police community support officers there were in (a) Coventry, (b) Coventry North East constituency, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office collects data on the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) employed by each police force in England and Wales. The number of PCSOs operating in Coventry North East constituency is not held centrally and numbers for Coventry Basic Command Unit (BCU) were only collected until 2011.The accompanying data tables show the number of PCSOs in the West Midlands police force, and across in England, as at the end of each financial year (31 March) for each of the last 5 years. The latest figure, as at 30 September 2014, is also provided. The table also contains the available data for Coventry BCU for 2010 and 2011.As HMIC has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.



PCSOs in West Midlands & England police force
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26.5 KB)

Police

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3908, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of front-line police officers nationally; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Decisions on the size and distribution of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities.

Offences against Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2015 to Question 326, if she will make it her policy to make available additional resources for responding to child abuse allegations over the next 12 months.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Deportation

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were removed from the UK under the Dublin Convention in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2014.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Assaults on Police: Sick Leave

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many sickness days were taken as a result of assaults on (a) police and (b) community support officers in each police force in each of the last 10 years.

Mike Penning: The table provided contains statistics on the number of working days lost by police officers as a result of sickness due to assault, by police force area for 2004/05 to 2011/12. These figures ceased to be collected from 2012/13 onwards.The number of working days lost by police community support officers as a result of sickness due to assaults is not collected centrally by the Home Office.



Number of working days lost by police officers 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 11.03 KB)

Police: Finance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution by the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead of 10 February 2015, Official Report column 637, what the timescale is for her Department's review of the police funding formula.

Mike Penning: The Government has committed to a fundamental review of the police funding formula. We will consult with policing partners fully in due course.

Police

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase police visibility.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police Remuneration Review Body

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual running costs of the Police Remuneration Pay Review Body have been since the formation of that body.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police Remuneration Review Body

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the set-up costs of the Police Remuneration Review Body were.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Pensions

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the revised commutation factors for the police pension scheme will be published.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electronic Commerce: Fraud

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fraud offences involving online shopping have been recorded in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: The ONS publish the number of fraud offences recorded by Action Fraud in table A5 of their Crime in England and Wales publication (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/year-ending-december-2014/index.html). The total number of “online shopping and auctions” fraud offences recorded for the year ending December 2014 was 42,535.Full annual data are only available from April 2014, following the phased introduction of centralised fraud reporting via Action Fraud. Previously, fraud offences were recorded by police forces and fraud offences involving online shopping could not be separately identified.

Universities: Radicalism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with universities on ensuring that lecturers do not encourage the development of extremist views.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

101 Calls

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what average time was taken to answer calls made to the 101 police non-emergency number in (a) the UK and (b) South Yorkshire in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on ratifying the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Karen Bradley: The Government is committed to ratifying the Istanbul Convention. The UK already complies with the vast majority of the articles through its comprehensive work to protect women and girls. Primary legislation is needed to comply with the extra-territorial jurisdiction provisions in Article 44 of the Convention before ratification.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the long-term future of Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre.

James Brokenshire: The operating contract for Yarl’s Wood runs until 25 April 2023. The Home Secretary has asked officials to undertake a detailed piece of work on future estate wide requirements.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her European counterparts on migration across the Mediterranean sea.

Mrs Theresa May: I discuss the situation in the Mediterranean regularly with my European Counterparts. We will do so again at this week’s informal JHA Council in Luxembourg. The Government continues to work with our European partners on a sustainable solution, beyond saving lives. That means combating the people smugglers and addressing the root causes of illegal migration.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Management

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who the members of the management board of her Department are; and how many of those members are women.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: My management board is made up of four executive members and one non-executive member. Of the four executive members, three are male and one is female. The one non-executive member is female. The current members are:Sir Jonathan Stephens, Chair, Permanent Secretary;Mark Larmour, Director;Colin Perry, Director;Dawn Johnson, Non-Executive Director;Jo Gordon, Deputy Director.

Administrative Scheme for the "On the Runs" Independent Review

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the total cost under each cost heading was of the Hallett Review into On The Runs.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The total cost of the Hallett Review was £509,417. Expenditure is broken down as follows:  Spend (£s)Chair69,458Legal and specialist265,486Staff40,298Travel and accommodation9,504IT and comms.45,602Admin.1,941Publication77,128Total509,417

Horse Racing: Betting

George Kerevan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 2.152 of Budget 2015, HC1093, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the extension of the Horserace Betting Right to Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I have had no discussions with the Chancellor about the Horse Race Betting Levy because Northern Ireland has its own devolved Horse Racing Fund. This is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist the maintenance and development of horse racing in Northern Ireland.

Department of Health

Health and Care Professions Council: Fees and Charges

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has made to the Health and Care Professions Council on its decision to increase the mandatory registration fee for care workers.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is a self-financing, independent regulator that is accountable to Parliament through the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). The PSA assesses the HCPC’s performance, conduct audits, scrutinise their decisions and report to Parliament.   It is for the council of the HCPC to set their fees at a level which ensures they can fulfil their statutory role of protecting, promoting and maintaining the health and safety of the public.   The Department understands that the HCPC publicly consulted on raising its registrant fee and as part of that process explained the raise was for a number of reasons: to fund the periodic fee it is required to pay the PSA; to enable the HCPC to operate more flexibly and efficiently; and to ensure the HCPC’s financial viability in the medium to long term.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase mental health funding in real terms in the next spending review period.

Alistair Burt: Spending on mental health is estimated to have increased by £302 million in 2014/15, with total mental health spending rising from £11.362 billion in 2013/14 to £11.664 billion planned in 2014/15, an increase of 0.6% in real terms. In the planning requirements for 2015/16, commissioners were required to invest additionally in mental health in line with their increase in allocation. The total planned additional spend is £376 million, an increase of 4.5%.   From March this year NHS England has led the Mental Health Taskforce. The Taskforce brings together health and care leaders and experts in the field, including people using services, to lead a programme of work to create a mental health Five Year Forward View for the National Health Service in England.   The Mental Health Taskforce will:   - oversee the publication of a new ‘life course’ national mental health strategy published in the summer of 2015, which builds on recent policy; - address equality and human rights commitments relating to the mental health of our population; - take a collective approach to cross-system leadership in development of the strategy and propose robust approaches to implementation following publication; - make comprehensive recommendations on the mechanisms and data requirements to implement the mental health strategy and to monitor delivery and outcomes of it; - ensure that priorities, costs and benefits within the strategy are assessed; - identify strategic and directional risks and issues, and work to resolve these; and - ensure that people with personal experience of mental health problems, their families and carers, and wider stakeholders are engaged appropriately and consistently in the delivery, monitoring and governance of the strategy.   This will inform considerations for mental health funding in the next spending review.

Health and Care Professions Council: Fees and Charges

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Health and Care Professions Council's decision to increase the mandatory registration fee for care workers on recruitment and retention of highly motivated staff in that profession.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) does not regulate care workers. The HCPC currently regulates arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists/orthotists, radiographers, social workers in England and speech and language therapists.   It is for the council of the HCPC to set their fees at a level which ensures they can fulfil their statutory role of protecting, promoting and maintaining the health and safety of the public.   All health and care professional regulators review their fees on an on-going basis. We are not aware of any evidence to suggest that this increase of £10 per year will impact on recruitment and retention.

Professional Organisations: Health Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on how much each professional membership body in the health and social care sector has increased its mandatory registration fee by in the last year.

Ben Gummer: The annual registrant fee levels for the nine professional health regulators at 1 July 2014, and at 1 July 2015, are shown below:   RegulatorFee at 1 July 2014 (£)Fee at 1 July 2015 (£)% changeNursing and Midwifery Council10012020.0Health and Care Professions Council809012.5General Medical Council3904207.7General Optical Council2903106.9General Osteopathic Council5705700.0General Dental Council57689054.5General Pharmaceutical Council2402504.2Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland3723720.0General Chiropractic Council8008000.0

Weather

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been admitted to hospital with (a) sunstroke and (b) other heat-related conditions in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available from The Health and Social Care Information Centre is provided in the attached table. 



FAEs of heat related conditions 2009-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21.97 KB)

Weather

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent advice his Department has issued to (a) the NHS and (b) local authorities on how to protect vulnerable people during a period of severe hot weather; and when that advice was last issued and revised.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what precautions (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England are taking in case of heatwaves in summer 2015.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to inform the public of steps to take to minimise damage to health during periods of severe hot weather.

Jane Ellison: The annual Heatwave Plan for England is co-ordinated by Public Health England (PHE) on behalf of the health, social care and public health system. It aims to raise both public and professional awareness of the health impacts of severe heat and cold weather.   Existing advice on looking after children in school and early year’s settings is now available in a stand-alone leaflet, which can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428850/Looking_After_Children_Heat_PHE_AC_AB_Publications_MP_JRM_FINAL.PDF   The plan recommends a series of steps to be taken throughout the year by National Health Service, local government, voluntary and community groups and individuals to reduce the harm to health from hot weather. To support the plan, the Met Office issues alerts which are cascaded to a wide range of health and social care organisations.   PHE and its partner organisations undertake substantial public communications before and during heatwave alerts. Information for the public is also available on the NHS Choices website.   The plan is a good practice guide. All local health and social care organisations should adapt the national plan as appropriate to the local context and satisfy themselves that providers and stakeholders take appropriate action, according to the alert level.

Weather: Public Transport

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Transport on the health effects of travelling on public transport during hot weather.

Jane Ellison: The Cabinet Office-run Summer Resilience Network provides a mechanism for understanding and coordinating the preparations put in place nationally for the summer period, by departments and other bodies, and provides a valuable forum to raise issues of concern. The network meets every two weeks between June and September, unless required to meet more frequently. Officials from the Department of Health and the Department for Transport attend this network.

Primary Health Care: Waiting Lists

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department collects on average waiting times for (a) appointments with NHS dentists and (b) GP appointments.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for an appointment with a NHS dentist has been in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: The data on waiting times to see a dentist or general practitioner (GP) in England is not held centrally. However, the latest GP Patient Survey published in July 2015 shows that 84.8% of patients rated their overall experience of their GP surgery as fairly or very good. The latest GP Patient Survey Dental Statistics published in July 2015 shows that 85% of patients rated their NHS Dental experience as fairly or very good.

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP surgeries use 0844 numbers; and what steps he plans to take to reduce the use of such numbers in the next five years.

Alistair Burt: Regulations introduced in 2010 prevented general practitioner (GP) practices from entering into, renewing or extending a contract for telephone services unless it was satisfied that, looking at the arrangements as a whole, patients would not pay more to make calls to the practice than they would to make calls to a geographical number.   The number of practices using premium rate numbers is reducing as contracts come to an end. As at September 2014, over 7,500 (97%) of all GP practices in England were using only local numbers and a large number of practices using 084 numbers also have a local alternative. NHS England continues to work with practices that have premium rate numbers and will review progress periodically.

NHS Trusts: Greater London

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Trust managers on Guys and St Thomas' Hospital Trust running services currently provided by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust; and which services have been the subject of those discussions.

Ben Gummer: These issues are for the local National Health Service to determine based on clinical leadership, not direction from Ministers.

Fats

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3673, how many (a) businesses and (b) products sold in the UK used artificial trans-fats in (i) 2012 and (ii) the latest date for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally by the Department.

NHS: Buildings

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS Property Services keeps a schedule of dilapidations and schedule of works.

George Freeman: NHS Property Services deals with Schedules of Dilapidations when these are received from a Landlord at the expiry of a leasehold interest. A financial provision is made to account for potential schedules. Current provisions amount to £113.7 million across 1,083 properties in the portfolio.   Schedules of works are prepared for all major projects of repair, maintenance and improvement. These are reviewed together with existing Planned Preventative Maintenance programmes at individual building level. The budget for undertaking such capital works in the current financial year amounts to £55 million.

NHS: Buildings

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of NHS Property Services in maintaining the upkeep of NHS buildings for which it is responsible.

George Freeman: NHS Property Services has had a capital programme for each of the three years since it became operational in 2013. The programme has two main streams – ‘customer’ capital which covers capital for new development and ‘Landlord’ capital which provides for maintenance of existing portfolio. The company has prioritised essential repairs, in particular those relating to Health and Safety issues, in this part of the programme.   In addition, the company is producing Schedules of Condition for each occupation in the estate, as part of a lease regularisation programme.   The Department monitors the capital and lease regularisation programmes through the company’s Audit Committee, the Asset and Investment Committee and a Department of Health Performance Oversight Group.

NHS Property Services: Billing

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many contractors commissioned to undertake work for NHS Property Services have had to wait more than (a) one, (b) three and (c) six months to be paid in each of the last three years.

George Freeman: Information relating to contractors undertaken to work for NHS Property Services Ltd can be found in the table below. Within paymenttermsUp to 1 month1 to 3 months3 to 6 monthsMore than6 monthsTotal2013Number ofInvoices9,44367721731510,373%91.03%6.53%2.09%0.30%0.05%100.00%2014Number ofInvoices11,0951,0866482005713,086%84.79%8.30%4.95%1.53%0.44%100.00%2015Number ofInvoices2,517412345108173,399%74.05%12.12%10.15%3.18%0.50%100.00%

Fats

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3672, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the population whose trans-fat intake exceeds two per cent of food energy.

Jane Ellison: The most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey indicates that very few adults and children (less than 2.5% of the survey sample) have a trans fat intake that exceeds the recommended maximum of 2% of food energy. Available analysis shows that trans fat intake at the upper 2.5th percentile of the distribution of intakes was 1.3-1.5% of food energy for adults and 1.1-1.2% of food energy for children, well below the 2% maximum recommendation.

Cancer: Research

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department allocated to each category of expenditure on cancer research in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories. NIHR spend in the cancer health category is shown in the following table.   £ million 2010/112011/122012/132013/14100.9104.1133.2129.9   A figure for 2014/15 is not yet available.   Further information on HRCS categories can be found on the HRCS website at:   www.hrcsonline.net/

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on mental health in England in each year since 2000.

Alistair Burt: The three tables below show the total National Health Service expenditure and total mental health expenditure. The reason the tables are split is due to NHS Revenue expenditure and mental health expenditure not being directly comparable across the time period from 2003-04 to 2013-14.   The Department does not have information on the level of NHS expenditure on mental health in the financial years 2000-01 to 2002-03. The 2014-15 final outturn data is not yet available.   Table 1 shows years 2003-04 to 2007-08. The NHS expenditure figures are on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis. The mental health expenditure is from Programme Budgeting data, information which is collected and published to help commissioners plan and spend their allocations.   Table 1  ABCFinancial YearNHS Revenue Expenditure under pre Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)Mental Health Expenditure as per Programme Budgeting data (£ billion)B as a % of A2003-0461.866.5610.602004-0566.877.2210.802005-0674.177.8210.542006-0778.478.4110.722007-0886.389.1710.62 Table 2 shows years 2008-09 to 2012-13. NHS expenditure figures are on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme. The mental health expenditure information is from Programme Budgeting data.   Table 2  ABCFinancial YearNHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)Mental Health Expenditure as per Programme Budgeting data (£ billion)B as a % of A2008-0987.629.7911.172009-1094.4210.6111.242010-1197.4710.9611.242011-12100.2711.1611.132012-13102.5711.2811.00 Table 3 shows 2013-14. The NHS expenditure figures are on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme. The mental health expenditure for 2013-14 has been collected directly from NHS England.   Table 3  ABCFinancial YearNHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)Mental Health Expenditure as per NHS England Accounts (£ billion)B as a % of A2013-14106.5011.3610.67

Primary Health Care: Expenditure

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on primary care in England in each year since 2000.

Alistair Burt: The table below shows the total National Health Service expenditure and total primary healthcare expenditure. The reason the tables are split is due to NHS revenue expenditure not being directly comparable across the time period from 1999-00 to 2013-14. The percentage of primary healthcare expenditure when compared to total NHS expenditure is shown in the last column.   The 2014-15 final outturn data is not yet available.   Table 1 shows years 1999-00 to 2007-08. The NHS expenditure figures are on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.   Table 1 YearNHS Revenue Expenditure under pre Clear Line of SightExpenditure on Primary HealthcarePrimary Healthcare Expenditure as a % of NHS Revenue Expenditure£ billion£ billion1999-0039.2910.6927.212000-0142.6911.4526.822001-0247.2912.8427.152002-0356.9013.7124.102003-0461.8614.9524.172004-0566.8716.5924.812005-0674.1718.1524.472006-0778.4718.6323.742007-0886.3819.1622.18   Table 2 shows years 2008-09 to 2013-14. NHS expenditure figures are on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.   Table 2 YearNHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight RulesExpenditure on Primary HealthcareRebased Expenditure on Primary HealthcarePrimary Healthcare Expenditure as a % of NHS Revenue Expenditure£ billion£ billion£ billion2008-0987.6219.92 22.732009-1094.4220.87 22.102010-1197.4721.37 21.922011-12100.2721.64 21.582012-13102.5721.4321.2920.762013-14106.50 21.3220.02 Notes: These figures represent the amount of expenditure on the purchase Primary Healthcare by commissioners. This is in the context that Primary Care Groups (years 1999-2000 to 2001-02), primary care trusts (years 2000-01 to 2012-13) health authorities (years 1999-2000 to 2001-02) and strategic health authorities (years 2002-03 to 2012-13) NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (2013-14 onwards) were responsible for commissioning healthcare from providers based on the needs of their local population.   2012-13 expenditure figure have been re-based to allow for direct comparison to the 2013-14 expenditure figure which has been presented on a different basis according to accounting practices in NHS England.

NHS Trusts: Accountancy and Management Consultants

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what purposes NHS hospital trusts may contract (a) management consultancy and (b) accountancy services; and what information his Department holds on such spending.

George Freeman: The Department reports expenditure on “consultancy services” in the administration and programme costs notes in its Annual Report and Accounts.   Consultancy services are defined as “The provision to management of objective advice and assistance relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation in pursuit of its purposes and objectives. Such assistance will be provided outside the ‘business as usual’ (BAU) environment when in-house skills are not available and will be of no essential consequence and time-limited. Services may include the identification of options with recommendations and/or assistance with (but not delivery of) the implementation of solutions.”   All National Health Service bodies should now use centrally approved Crown Commercial Service framework contracts for such services to ensure value for money. Under the financial controls package announced on 2 June 2015, a limit of £50,000 has been set for all professional services consultancy contracts across NHS foundation trusts, NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups. All cases above this threshold will require sign-off by the appropriate national body ie NHS England, Monitor or the NHS Trust Development Authority. The Department is aiming to save £150 million on management consultant spend in 2015-16.   The Department collects data on consultancy services from individual NHS trusts, and Monitor provides a consolidated figure for the NHS foundation trust sector.   The total spend on consultancy services by NHS providers in 2013-14 was as follows:   NHS Provider Consultancy Spend 2013-14£000sNHS Trusts181,558NHS Foundation Trusts233,578   The Department does not separately report expenditure on “accountancy services” or collect data on this.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Ernst and Young

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the contract held by Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust with Ernst & Young.

George Freeman: No information is held by the Department.

Dental Services

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS dentists are accepting new patients in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Dewsbury constituency.

Alistair Burt: Information is not collected centrally by the Department on the number of dentists taking on new patients.

Children

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children aged (a) four to five years and (b) 10 to 11 years were recorded as obese in (i) England, (ii) London, (iii) each primary care trust in London and (iv) each London borough in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Data on the National Child Measurement Programme are not available by primary care trust. Table 1 presents the number of children aged four to five years who were recorded as obese for each London Borough, the London region and England for the period 2009/10 to 2013/14. Figures for the London Borough of Hackney also include City of London (to prevent potential disclosure of individuals). Table 2 presents the data for children aged 10 to 11 years. These tables are attached. 



Child obesity data London&England 2009/10-2013/14
(Word Document, 29.11 KB)

Department of Health: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which periodicals and newspapers his Department subscribes to; how many of each such periodical his Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

Jane Ellison: The amount spent on journal/periodical subscriptions in 2014 was £104,082 (down from £249,152 in 2009/10).   The specific titles are listed in the attached file. For the most part only one copy, or electronic access is acquired – where this is not the case the title is listed more than once.   We do not subscribe centrally to print newspapers.   The Department’s Knowledge Centre is responsible for central provision of library services – including newspapers, periodicals and trade publications. The figures above do not include expenditure on items for retention by individual divisions, responsibility for which was decentralised in April 2010. Details on this expenditure are not available.   



Journal / Periodical titles list 2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 12.55 KB)

Drugs: Finance

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to establish a ring-fenced fund for (a) the provision of and (b) research into drugs for rare diseases.

George Freeman: Rare disease drugs are handled through the NHS England specialised commissioning budget. National Health Service commissioners are responsible for making funding decisions on drugs for rare diseases, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.   The Government has funding mechanisms in place for research and development relating to innovative medicines. Both the National Institute for Health Research and the Medical Research Council welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including drugs for rare diseases. The usual practice of these research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.   We take the issue of ensuring rapid access to innovative therapies very seriously, which is why we have launched an Accelerated Access Review to make recommendations to Government later in the year on speeding up access for NHS patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies.

Cancer: Health Education

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase public awareness of the symptoms of cancer.

Jane Ellison: Since early 2011 the Department (Public Health England (PHE) from 1 April 2013) has been running Be Clear on Cancer campaigns. These are designed to:   - raise the public’s awareness of specific cancer symptoms; - encourage people with those symptoms to go to the doctor; and - diagnose cancer at an earlier stage, and therefore make it more treatable, and thereby improve cancer survival rates.   Be Clear on Cancer campaigns are tested at a local and regional level and are subject to a comprehensive evaluation process, the results of which are assessed thoroughly before a decision is taken on whether to run campaigns nationally throughout England. To date, there have been national campaigns on Lung, Bowel, Bladder and Kidney, Oesophago-gastric cancers and Breast Cancer in older women.   PHE works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals.   Earlier diagnosis is seen as an essential element in delivering against the Government’s commitment to save an additional 5,000 lives from cancer per year by 2014/15. It is also seen as an important aspect of the new mortality call to action. Be Clear on Cancer campaigns form an integral part of PHE’s Marketing Plan for 2014-17.   An independent Cancer Taskforce was established by NHS England on behalf of the Care Quality Commission, Health Education England, Monitor, PHE and the Trust Development Authority in January 2015 to develop a five-year strategy for cancer services. Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, was appointed as independent chair, with membership representing a cross section of the cancer and health community. The strategy will be published in the summer.

Lung Diseases

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the rate of (a) asthma and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was in (i) England, (ii) London and (iii) each London borough in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The number of people recorded on the disease register and the prevalence for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at England level from 2009-10 to 2013-14 is provided in the attached table. Data is provided at Area Team and Clinical Commissioning Group level for 2012/13 and 2013/14 and at Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trust level for 2009/10 to 2011/12.   Data for the London boroughs can also be found in the accompanying spreadsheet. 



Rate of Asthma & COPD- London boroughs 2009-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 40.06 KB)

Infectious Diseases

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of (a) mumps, (b) measles, (c) rubella, (d) diphtheria, (e) tetanus, (f) pertussis, (g) hib disease there were in (i) England, (ii) London, (iii) primary care trusts in London and (iv) London boroughs in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: National and regional data on the number of cases of measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in England are published by Public Health England based on the number of laboratory confirmed cases. For tetanus, cases are based on clinical diagnosis only, although laboratory tests can support the diagnosis.   There are no published figures for laboratory confirmed cases by primary care trusts or London boroughs, because of the risk of deductive disclosure and because laboratories do not always report the area of residence of the case.Number of laboratory confirmed cases of selected vaccine preventable diseases1, London and England: 2010 to 2014YearMeasles (London region/England)Mumps(London region/ England)Rubella(London region/ England)Pertussis(London region/ England)Diphtheria2(London region/ England)Tetanus (London region/ EnglandHibLondon region/ England201089/372689/38807/1255/4092/21/104/282011418/1068318/22993/493/10531/21/32/202012139/1912213/24765/65785/93670/11/62/142013192/1413461/35408/12516/46211/30/63/19201459/111452/22241/33537/33880/12/74/12   1All except cases of tetanus which are based on clinical diagnosis only. 2 None of the cases presented with ‘classical’ respiratory diphtheria. In England there were six cases of cutaneous diphtheria and three cases of mild respiratory diphtheria; in London there were three cases of cutaneous diphtheria and one case of mild respiratory diphtheria. 3 one of the three cases was not confirmed by laboratory testing.

Health Visitors

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made in raising the number of health visitors available to new mothers and improving the universal service offer by 2015.

Jane Ellison: The most recent official figures* for March 2015 show there are 12,077 health visitors in post, this is an increase of 3,985 health visitors since May 2010. In addition, over 1,000 health visitors were in training at the end of March 2015, who, if they complete their training, will be eligible to practise between September 2015 and February 2016. This significant expansion means the workforce is well-placed to deliver the Health Visitor Programme’s four level model, including the universal offer to new parents.   *Published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre

Health: Children

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all families benefit from targeted support under the Healthy Child Programme.

Jane Ellison: The Healthy Child Programme is a progressive universal service which offers every child a schedule of health and development reviews, screening tests, immunisations, health promotion guidance and support for parents tailored to their needs. For children and families with greater needs and risks, a range of additional preventive and early intervention services are offered, including services promoting child development and emotional and psychological support.   To ensure the programme remains up to date with the latest evidence, a review of the evidence base for the Healthy Child Programme was undertaken by Public Health England and published in March 2015. The findings of the review will ensure that the Healthy Child Programme is underpinned by robust, up-to-date evidence of what works.   The review report is available on the gov.uk website at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-child-programme-rapid-review-to-update-evidence   To support the continued provision of the Healthy Child Programme following transfer of responsibility for planning and commissioning of public health services for children up to age five from NHS England to local authorities on 1 October 2015, we are mandating five universal health visitor reviews:   - the antenatal health promoting visit; - the new baby review; - the 6-8 week assessment (the health visitor or Family Nurse led check); - the one year assessment; and - the 2-2½ year review.   Evidence shows that these are the key times to ensure that parents are supported to give their baby the best start in life, and to identify early those families who need extra help. This will help ensure all children under five and their parents get the support they need, whilst also providing an opportunity to identify those families where extra support may be needed.

Community Work: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to encourage people to visit elderly neighbours with poor health.

Alistair Burt: In a recent speech to the Local Government Association the Secretary of State for Health urged the public to take more personal responsibility for looking after older people. He stressed that the health service, local government, the voluntary sector as well as individuals themselves need to work together to ensure vulnerable people such as the elderly continue to live their life in the community.   Through the Care Act 2014, the Department has required local authorities to have measures in place to identify people in their area who would benefit from universal services to help reduce, delay or prevent needs for care and support. This includes needs that may arise from social isolation. The Department has supported a ‘digital toolkit’ for local commissioners, which was developed by the Campaign to End Loneliness. Since its launch in July 2012, the toolkit has been supporting commissioners in understanding, mapping and commissioning for loneliness and social isolation in their communities.   The Care Act also provides for greater support for carers to support family and friends who need help. In the Secretary of State’s speech he committed the Department to develop a new carers’ strategy that looks at the best of international practice and examines what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers we will need.   The Department has published its strategic vision for volunteering, Social action for health and well-being: building co-operative communities. This sets out how we can support people to give their time, more often and in ways that fit in with their lives, to bring health and wellbeing benefits for themselves and others in their communities.

Eating Disorders: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children and young people NHS England treated for eating disorders in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) in which the primary diagnosis was an eating disorder are given below.   YearFAEs2009-102,0672010-111,9632011-122,2872012-132,3812013-142,868   A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. These data do not record the age of the patient, so it is not possible to ascertain if an episode related to a child, a young person or an adult.   The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.   "eating disorders” are classified with ICD10 codes as follows:   F50.0 Anorexia nervosa F50.1 Atypical anorexia nervosa F50.2 Bulimia nervosa F50.3 Atypical bulimia nervosa F50.4 Overeating associated with other psychological disturbances F50.5 Vomiting associated with other psychological disturbances F50.8 Other eating disorders F50.9 Eating disorder, unspecified

Eating Disorders: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for treatment for children and young people was after being diagnosed for eating disorder in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: This information is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners: Closures

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2015 to Question 2849, how many GP practices in (a) England, (b) London, (c) the London Borough of Islington and (d) Islington South and Finsbury constituency have closed in each of the last ten years to April 2014.

Alistair Burt: The available information is contained in the following table. Information is not collected at parliamentary constituency level.   It is important to note that these figures also include practices which have merged or been taken over and do not provide an accurate representation of activity or service provision. The data also includes any organisation providing GP services, such as walk-in centres. YearClosed practicesEnglandLondonIslington Primary Care Trust2004/051292402005/06942002006/07831002007/08771312008/09781102009/10691002010/1191902011/121151502012/131452212013/1499180   Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Primary Care Information Service.

Cancer: Drugs

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the next prioritisation process for treatments currently on the National Cancer Drugs Fund list will take place.

George Freeman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 June 2015 to Question 3814.

General Practitioners: Closures

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2015 to Question 2849, how many GP practices in receipt of funding under the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee in (a) England, (b) London, (c) the London Borough of Islington and (d) Islington South and Finsbury constituency have closed in each of the last 10 years up to 1 April 2014.

Alistair Burt: The available information is contained in the following table. Information on the number of practices in receipt of Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) payments which have closed is only available from 2013/14. Information is not collected at parliamentary constituency level.   It is important to note that these figures also include practices which have merged or been taken over and do not provide an accurate representation of activity or service provision.Total number of practices closed in 2013/14Number of practices in receipt of MPIG that closed in 2013/14England7023London102Islington Clinical Commissioning Group00   Closed practices refers to those closed between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.   Source: NHS England Single Integrated Finance Environment.

Vaccination: Children

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of two year olds were immunised against (a) MMR and (b) diptheria, tetanus, pertussis and hib in (i) England, (ii) London, (iii) primary care trusts in London and (iv) London boroughs in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is set out in the tables below. The latest annual vaccine uptake data relate to 2013/14. The areas covered by London Boroughs and London primary care trusts (PCT) (which were abolished from April 2013) are generally coterminous. The tables below show vaccine uptake by PCT areas.   (a) Percentage uptake of one dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by two years of age (%)2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14England88.289.191.292.392.7  London81.983.886.187.187.5  PCTs Barking and Dagenham83.281.485.788.588.1Barnet87.789.692.787.880.7Bexley75.381.385.488.590.7Brent Teaching81.588.291.691.889.4Bromley81.383.691.590.691.2Camden73.077.385.085.087.3City & Hackney Teaching79.075.481.085.789.0Croydon83.782.183.586.588.9Ealing85.386.589.189.389.3Enfield80.677.180.082.878.3Greenwich Teaching74.382.683.385.286.1Hammersmith and Fulham76.380.582.683.782.7Haringey Teaching85.385.388.192.089.8Harrow84.488.191.692.592.1Havering78.585.689.991.388.7Hillingdon87.389.091.390.890.8Hounslow80.481.886.187.787.8Islington82.085.490.791.688.0Kensington and Chelsea84.386.182.981.380.4Kingston upon Thames85.183.789.388.689.5Lambeth81.082.383.489.190.4Lewisham78.381.285.786.389.1Newham79.380.879.282.285.1Redbridge82.285.286.589.788.0Richmond &Twickenham80.085.386.588.089.0Southwark80.080.482.385.788.9Sutton & Merton82.981.678.780.785.0Tower Hamlets84.094.493.993.893.8Waltham Forest84.087.088.487.284.8Wandsworth85.782.486.082.888.6Westminster91.389.382.177.479.5 (b) Percentage uptake of three doses of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Hib (DTaP/IPV/Hib) vaccine by two years of age (%)2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14England95.396.096.196.396.1  London90.892.993.393.693.1  PCTs Barking and Dagenham87.688.791.594.292.5Barnet94.095.096.994.393.4Bexley89.193.695.796.496.2Brent Teaching90.393.795.495.895.1Bromley91.193.496.496.096.1Camden88.090.394.093.795.0City & Hackney Teaching85.389.689.991.491.6Croydon94.494.093.494.194.5Ealing95.395.796.896.896.9Enfield88.987.387.990.589.1Greenwich Teaching85.892.493.293.493.5Hammersmith and Fulham90.592.592.891.786.4Haringey Teaching90.492.291.694.693.6Harrow95.296.595.596.695.9Havering86.494.494.495.893.1Hillingdon96.396.296.596.395.6Hounslow91.393.194.793.793.3Islington92.093.596.497.892.0Kensington and Chelsea95.094.389.388.585.0Kingston upon Thames94.595.096.196.096.2Lambeth92.693.392.995.595.3Lewisham88.791.892.889.991.8Newham88.088.590.891.091.9Redbridge90.692.693.494.894.1Richmond &Twickenham92.394.794.695.194.9Southwark91.591.490.293.194.4Sutton & Merton85.791.890.089.286.5Tower Hamlets94.397.797.397.397.3Waltham Forest93.694.894.794.692.0Wandsworth86.991.692.591.294.1Westminster92.493.285.781.981.6

Asthma: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many emergency admissions there were for asthma in London in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The attached table shows the number of emergency finished admission episodes where there was a primary diagnosis of asthma for London Strategic Health Authority of treatment in 2009-10 and NHS England’s London area team of treatment in 2010-11 to 2013-14. 



Asthma diagnosis FAEs 2009/10 - 2013/14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.53 KB)

Tuberculosis

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of TB were recorded in (a) England, (b) London, (c) primary care trusts in London and (d) London boroughs in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases between 2009 and 2013 in England and London are shown below in Table 1. The confidence interval refers to the probable range that the value will fall within.   Table 1 The confidence interval refers to the probable range that the value will fall within. Source: Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance System (ETS), Office for National Statistics. Data as at May 2014. Prepared by: TB Section, Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, Public Health England   Year EnglandLondonNumber of casesRate per 100,000 (95% CI)Number of casesRate per 100,000 (95% CI)20098,11915.7 (15.3-16.0)3,40442.9 (41.4-44.3)20107,67714.7 (14.4-15.0)3,24140.2 (38.8-41.6)20118,28415.6 (15.3-16.0)3,48942.5 (41.1-44)20128,09915.1 (14.8-15.5)3,40341 (39.6-42.4)20137,29013.5 (13.2-13.8)2,98535.5 (34.2-36.8) The three-year average of TB case reports and rates by local authority in London between 2011 and 2013 are shown below in Table 2 (three-year averages are provided, as single year numbers are too small to be stable for a number of locations).   Table 2 The confidence interval refers to the probable range that the value will fall within. Local AuthorityAverage number of cases (2011-2013)Average rate per 100,000 (95%CI)Barking and Dagenham67.035.2 (27.2 -44.7)Barnet94.325.8 (20.9 -31.6)Bexley31.013.2 (9.0 -18.8)Brent298.794.7 (84.3 -106.1)Bromley33.710.5 (7.2 -14.8)Camden59.026.2 (20.0 -33.8)City of London1.313.2 (0.3 -73.3)Croydon120.332.5 (27.0 -38.9)Ealing233.768.4 (59.9 -77.8)Enfield74.323.3 (18.3 -29.3)Greenwich115.744.2 (36.5 -53.1)Hackney88.034.9 (28.0 -43.0)Hammersmith and Fulham54.030.0 (22.6 -39.2)Haringey106.740.9 (33.5 -49.5)Harrow161.066.4 (56.6 -77.5)Havering24.710 (6.4 -14.9)Hillingdon123.343.7 (36.3 -52.1)Hounslow178.768.7 (59.0 -79.6)Islington71.733.6 (26.3 -42.4)Kensington and Chelsea38.324.4 (17.2 -33.4)Kingston upon Thames27.716.5 (10.9 -24.0)Lambeth91.029.3 (23.6 -36.0)Lewisham86.730.5 (24.4 -37.7)Merton65.332.1 (24.8 -41.0)Newham357.3113.7 (102.2 -126.1)Redbridge155.354.5 (46.2 -63.7)Richmond upon Thames13.76.9 (3.7 -11.8)Southwark109.337.1 (30.5 -44.8)Sutton28.714.5 (9.6 -20.9)Tower Hamlets119.745.2 (37.5 -54.1)Waltham Forest121.746.1 (38.2 -55.1)Wandsworth80.725.9 (20.6 -32.3)Westminster60.026.8 (20.5 -34.5) Source: ETS, Office for National Statistics. Data as at May 2014. Prepared by: TB Section, Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, Public Health England   Primary care trusts have now been replaced by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The three-year average TB case reports and rates by CCGs in London between 2011-2013 are shown below in Table 3. Table 3 The confidence interval refers to the probable range that the value will fall within. CCGAverage number of cases (2011-2013)Average rate per 100,000 (95%CI)NHS Barking & Dagenham67.035.2 (27.2 -44.7)NHS Barnet94.325.8 (20.9 -31.6)NHS Bexley31.013.2 (9 -18.8)NHS Brent298.794.7 (84.3 -106.1)NHS Bromley33.710.5 (7.2 -14.8)NHS Camden59.026.2 (20 -33.8)NHS Central London (Westminster)38.023.6 (16.7 -32.4)NHS City and Hackney89.334.3 (27.5 -42.2)NHS Croydon120.332.5 (27 -38.9)NHS Ealing233.768.4 (59.9 -77.8)NHS Enfield74.323.3 (18.3 -29.3)NHS Greenwich115.744.2 (36.5 -53.1)NHS Hammersmith and Fulham54.030 (22.6 -39.2)NHS Haringey106.740.9 (33.5 -49.5)NHS Harrow161.066.4 (56.6 -77.5)NHS Havering24.710 (6.4 -14.9)NHS Hillingdon123.344.8 (26.9 – 62.7)NHS Hounslow178.768.7 (59 -79.6)NHS Islington71.733.6 (26.3 -42.4)NHS Kingston27.716.5 (10.9 -24)NHS Lambeth91.029.3 (23.6 -36)NHS Lewisham86.730.5 (24.4 -37.7)NHS Merton65.332.1 (24.8 -41)NHS Newham357.3113.7 (102.2 -126.1)NHS Redbridge155.354.5 (46.2 -63.7)NHS Richmond13.76.9 (3.7 -11.8)NHS Southwark109.337.1 (30.5 -44.8)NHS Sutton28.714.5 (9.6 -20.9)NHS Tower Hamlets119.745.2 (37.5 -54.1)NHS Waltham Forest121.746.1 (38.2 -55.1)NHS Wandsworth80.725.9 (20.6 -32.3)NHS West London (Kensington and Chelsea, Queen's Park and Paddington)60.327.4 (20.9 -35.3) CI: confidence interval. Only cases with complete postcodes were mapped to CCGs Sources: ETS, Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates. Data as at May 2014. Prepared by: TB Section, Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, Public Health England

Tuberculosis: Vaccination

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of eligible people were immunised against TB in (a) England, (b) London, (c) primary care trusts in London and (d) London boroughs in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunisation programme is not a universal programme but a risk-based programme. In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommendations, and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, BCG vaccination is offered to certain population sub-groups in England through either a universal or targeted infant vaccination programme dependent on residence in a high-incidence area (one in which tuberculosis (TB) incidence exceeds 40 cases per 100,000 population) or an assessment of individual risk factors.   There are no published data on proportion of eligible people immunised against TB because of the problem of defining the denominator (i.e. the total number of vaccine eligible persons in the population).

Eating Disorders: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his French counterpart on the implications for UK policy of possible changes in the law in that country on the use of fashion models below a certain Body Mass Index level and its effect on children and young people with eating disorders.

Alistair Burt: There have been no such discussions.

NHS: Employment Agencies

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on agency staff in (a) Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last four (i) quarters and (ii) years.

Alistair Burt: The information available is presented in the table.   Spending on agency staff over the last four years:   OrganisationTotal Agency Spend (£ million) 2013-142012-132011-122010-11(a) Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust18n/an/an/a(b) London- NHS Trusts334n/an/an/a- Foundation Trusts366273229205(c) England- NHS Trusts1,082n/an/an/a- Foundation Trusts1,3961,113918855   Spending on agency staff over the last four quarters   OrganisationTotal Agency Spend (£ million)Q1 2014-15Q2 2014-15Q3 2014-15Q4 2014-15(a) Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trustn/an/an/an/a(b) LondonNHS Trustsn/an/an/an/aFoundation Trusts95.7101.9107.3111.6(c) EnglandNHS Trustsn/an/an/an/aFoundation Trusts388.7428.4448.2504.9n/a: data not available Notes:   1. Data on net spending on contract and agency staff for NHS trusts (including Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust) is unaudited financial data taken from the NHS Summarisation Schedules and consolidated figures were published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. These data sets were collected for the first time in 2013/14.   2. The figures for NHS trusts exclude spending on bank staff. Data on temporary/agency staff reported in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts include payments to external bodies such as NHS Professionals for the supply of bank staff, working extra hours at NHS rates of pay. The above table presents data excluding spending on bank staff using unaudited figures for the element of NHS trust expenditure relating to bank staff.   3. NHS trusts existing in 2013/14 were asked to also provide prior year figures (2012/13) for Contract and Agency staff in the NHS Summarisation Schedules. These figures have not been included in the answer as the data provided only includes information from existing 2013/14 NHS trusts, rather than data from all 2012/13 trusts.   4. The prior year figures included in Table C12 of the published accounts have not been included in the answer, as they were compiled on a different basis to the 2013/14 figures. The figures published for 2012/13 for NHS trusts are based on non-permanently employed staff which is defined as “others engaged on the objectives of the organisation and will include staff on inward secondment or loan from other organisations, bank/agency/temporary staff and contract staff.” This reconciles to the figures for those organisations in note 3 (Staff Costs 2012/13), whereas the 2013-14 figures are compiled for the first time under a stricter definition of contingent labour.   5. The figure for 2013/14 Contract and Agency staff spend for all NHS trusts reported in the published accounts under the heading “Temporary/Agency” (Table C12 page 197) is £1.184 billion. This is understated as one organisation did not provide the data, so the answer is based on a higher figure (including spend on bank staff) of £1.209 billion. 6. In the guidance that accompanied the data collection, the definition of Contract / Agency staff is: “Agency” employee payments for the employment of staff where the staff remain employees of the agency and “Contract staff” where the NHS trust has control over numbers and qualifications of staff (in contrast to a service obtained under contract) .   7. Excluded from the “Agency/Contract” category are the costs of staff recharged by another organisation where no element of overhead is included i.e. where the staff costs are shared between the NHS Trust and other bodies; staff on secondment or on loan from other organisations; amounts payable to contractors in respect of the provision of services (for example, cleaning or security).   8. Where an NHS trust obtains foundation trust status part way through any year, the data provided is only for the part of the year the organisation operated as an NHS Trust.   9. For the first time in 2013/14 the figures for NHS trusts and foundation trusts have been aggregated and published in the Departmental Annual Accounts together under the heading “NHS Providers”. Figures provided separately for either sector will include a small amount of cross-sector transactions that would ordinarily be eliminated if the figures were provided at group level.   10. Data on net spending on agency staff presented for foundation trusts for last four years is audited data from in-year returns of NHS foundation trusts.   11. Data on net spending on agency staff presented for foundation trusts for last four quarters is unaudited data from in-year returns of NHS foundation trusts. It comprises spending on agency and contract staff.   12. Annual data is based on published accounts data. 2014-15 data is expected to be published next month. Quarterly data for 2014-15 is drawn from unpublished in-year returns.

Psychiatry: Birmingham Northfield

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time for accessing talking therapies was for people with mental health problems in Birmingham, Northfield constituency in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: Information is not available in the format requested.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Adult Education

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reductions in the adult further education budget on the participation rate on such courses.

Nick Boles: Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16. Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand and it would be for individual colleges to determine what provision to offer based on this demand.

Technology and Innovation Centres: Apprentices

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what provision exists for Catapult centres to take on apprentices; and how many apprentices (a) aged under 19, (b) aged 19 to 24 and (c) aged 24 plus are currently employed in each Catapult centre.

Nick Boles: The Catapult network does not have a formal policy on apprenticeships, but many Catapults have developed schemes to support this approach and funding has been provided for the building of state-of-the-art facilities for training apprentices in two locations.The Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, which is due to open in September 2015, will address the manufacturing skills shortage by training engineering apprentices on a sponsored or part-sponsored basis, up-skilling manufacturing engineers and developing graduate engineers and industrial designers.The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Training Centre provides training in the practical and academic skills that manufacturing companies need to compete globally, from apprenticeship through to doctorate and MBA level.The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult currently has 93 apprentices directly employed across its seven centres. This figure does not include those being trained on behalf of industry, which currently number over 250 and will increase next year. The full breakdown is:- HVM CentreNumber of ApprenticesUnder 1919-2424+Advanced Forming Research Centre3030Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre141040Centre for Process Innovation6321Manufacturing Technology Centre5825330National Composites Centre8440Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre4121Warwick Manufacturing Group0000Total9343482 The Centre for Process Innovation is currently recruiting an additional three apprentices and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre is currently recruiting an additional two.There are three apprentices currently entering their second year of a modern apprenticeship with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. The Catapult is building a plan around future recruitment to consider building and continuing this pool of talent. There is also one apprentice with the Transport Systems Catapult. The Catapult is also employing a number of interns from Cranfield University over the summer and has some individuals completing their thesis.The Cell Therapy Catapult does not have any current apprentices, but the Cell Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Centre, which is due to open in 2017, will create up to 150 jobs directly, including apprenticeships.The Digital Catapult does not have any current apprentices, but is committed to a diverse workforce and, to date, has hosted six work experience placements and a first cohort of paid interns started this month. The Catapult is in discussions with Tech City Stars about apprenticeships and researching other partnerships over the next few months.No apprentices are employed at the Future Cities Catapult, although there is one intern, and the Catapult is about to launch an open intern scheme which will be advertised on its website. They are looking at opportunities to develop and grow talent pools at all levels and will be looking at the offer of apprenticeships as part of this review.No apprentices are employed at the Satellite Applications Catapult, but the Catapult is looking to develop a scheme in future years.

Apprentices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the availability of apprenticeships to people aged 18 and over is not exploited by employers to pay staff at a rate below the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles: The Government is committed to effective enforcement of the National Minimum Wage for all apprentices and we have taken steps to reduce non-compliance. HMRC prioritises complaints made concerning apprenticeship pay. Employers who fail to pay the age appropriate apprenticeship minimum wage will be ‘Named and Shamed’, as well as receiving financial penalties. Furthermore, where there is evidence that an offence has been committed the case will always be considered for prosecution. We have recently increased HMRC’s 2015/16 budget which will enable more HMRC compliance officers to identify businesses that exploit their workers.

Mature Students

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) women and (b) men aged 24 and over were enrolled in further education courses at level 3 or above in each academic year since 2010.

Nick Boles: Table 1 shows the number of learners aged 24+ participating in further education courses at Level 3 or above from 2010/11 to 2013/14.   Table 1: FE and Skills participation at Level 3+ and ages 24+, 2010/11 to 2013/14  2010/112011/122012/132013/14Male136,200128,000139,300100,900Female238,600247,600285,100207,700Total Learners (24+) 374,900  375,600  424,400  308,600  Notes: 1) The source is the Individualised Learner Record. 2) This tables includes Apprenticeships, Workplace Learning, Community Learning and Education and Training provision (including the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service) taken at General Further Education Colleges (including Tertiary), Sixth Form Colleges, Special Colleges (Agricultural and Horticultural Colleges and Art and Design Colleges), Specialist Colleges and External Institutions. 3) Volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred. 4) Age and gender are based upon self-declaration by the learner.

Adult Education: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3461, what steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of adult skills training in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The steps we are taking for skills training in the West Midlands are the same as those throughout the country.   Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and after delivering 2.3m apprenticeships last parliament, we are committed to 3m starts this parliament. Employers are designing apprenticeships that are more responsive to the needs of business. Trailblazers are leading the way in new apprenticeship standards. Led by employers both large and small and professional bodies, they are developing new apprenticeship standards and assessment approaches to equip people with the skills they needWe are also committed to delivering traineeships which are an education and training programme with work experience, focused on giving 16-24 year olds the skills and experience they need to be able to compete for apprenticeships or other sustainable employment.   We are also prioritising skills funding for all adults without a level 2 qualification in English or maths and for the unemployed to enter and progress into work.   We are also making Advanced Learning Loans available to thousands of adults wishing to advance their current skills or retrain. Learners aged 24 and above studying at Level 3 and Level 4 can access loan support to help meet up-front fees, removing one of the main barriers to learning.   We are also establishing National Colleges, such as the National College for Advanced Manufacturing with facilities in Coventry, to deliver high level skills training in sectors that are critical to economic growth, where there are recognised gaps.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the investment each Local Enterprise Partnership has secured in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Local Enterprise Partnerships are leveraging investment from a wide range of sources alongside funding from government. This includes significant private sector investment. The government’s investments in LEP areas over the last five years have included £2 billion Local Growth Fund, £730 million Growing Places Fund, £440 million Regional Growth Fund, £120 million in Enterprise Zones, and £90.7 million Coastal Communities Fund.   The government does not collect information about all investments secured by LEPs. As bottom-up, self-defined and voluntary partnerships LEPs have autonomy to manage their own resources and so drive economic growth in their local areas without burdensome reporting requirements or restrictive central controls.

UK Research Partnership Investment Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether further application rounds are planned under the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

Joseph Johnson: In the March 2015 Budget, the Government announced £400m out to 2021 for the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund. We are working with the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which administers the Fund in collaboration with the other higher education funding bodies, to develop the arrangements. The process and guidance for further rounds will be set out later this year.

Industry

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on each commitment made under each of the Government's 11 sector partnerships; and what the current status is of each sector partnership.

Anna Soubry: Sector councils have worked over recent years to deliver the commitments set out in the 11 sector strategies published since 2012.   My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will continue to work closely with industry and businesses to understand their needs and what more the Government can do to retain the UK’s competitive position within the global economy, including through sector councils.

British Business Bank

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has for the future of the British Business Bank; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Government intends to help new and existing challenger banks to inject fresh competition in the market, including through the British Business Bank, in line with the commitment in the Conservative Party manifesto. The Business Bank is increasing the supply of debt and equity finance available to smaller businesses, including start-ups, as well as diversifying the market to give a greater choice of options and providers. The Business Bank aims to facilitate up to £10 billion of finance by 2019, the majority of which will be through providers other than the big four banks.

Postgraduate Education

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish a response to the Government's consultation on support for postgraduate study; and what deadlines he or officials in his Department have set in relation to this process.

Joseph Johnson: The consultation response is currently being analysed and the Department will respond in the Autumn.

Technology: Training

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what timescale he has set for establishing with business a new generation of national colleges to provide specialist skills for key technical sectors.

Nick Boles: Subject to the assessment of the proposals from the National Colleges, which are due to be submitted to the Department on 16 July, we intend to have a network of industry-led National Colleges operational by September 2017

Russia: Sanctions

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the value in sterling of (a) exports to Russia and (b) foreign direct investment from Russia lost as a result of sanctions on that country.

Anna Soubry: It is difficult to assess the impact of sanctions because of the problem in isolating their impact from other factors affecting Russia’s economy.   Our on-going dialogue with UK industry suggests that it understands the purpose of the sanctions and is appreciative of the Government’s support. Their main concerns are that sanctions should be as unambiguous as possible, are applied consistently across the EU, that action is taken to stop back-filling (Russia replacing EU trade with trade from third countries) and that licence applications are processed promptly.

Terrorism: Tunisia

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will encourage tour operators to give a full refund to anyone who has booked a package holiday to Tunisia, who now believes that their personal safety would be compromised if they were to travel to that area.

Nick Boles: All package holidays are subject to the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. In the event that a tour operator cancels a package the consumer is entitled to a full refund or to take a substitute package of the same or higher quality, if offered. If the consumer is offered a replacement of lower quality the consumer is entitled to receive a refund of the difference in price. It is the consumer’s choice as to whether to accept a replacement or a full refund.   Tour operators have a general duty of care towards their customers and the Regulations also make them liable for contractual failure in respect of any of the services being provided as part of a package. I understand that the industry is reacting to the situation in Tunisia responsibly. Holidays have been cancelled in the shorter term, and refunds and alternatives offered. Longer term, consumers are being offered the chance to change their arrangements with no alteration fees.

Direct Mail

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to reduce the volume of junk mail.

Nick Boles: The Government recognises that many people find unsolicited mail a real nuisance and has already taken steps to make sure there are preference services in place for those customers who do not want to receive it.   The Direct Marketing Association currently run two separate “opt out” services: the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) will stop addressed mail and the “Your Choice” preference service will stop unaddressed mailings.   Royal Mail also runs its own door-to-door “opt out” scheme, which will stop those unaddressed mailings delivered by Royal Mail.

Channel Tunnel

Corri Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate of the average daily cost to UK businesses of an unscheduled closure of the Channel Tunnel.

Anna Soubry: Understanding the full cost to business would require a detailed analysis of their supply chains. This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Trade Agreements: Ethiopia

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on concluding UK-Ethiopia bilateral trade agreement; when he expects that agreement to be laid before Parliament for approval; and if he will make a statement to the House when that agreement is so laid.

Anna Soubry: The UK-Ethiopia Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed in Addis Ababa on the 19 November 2009. For the treaty to enter into force, both parties must complete their respective constitutional procedures and then formally exchange instruments of ratification. Neither the UK nor Ethiopia has ratified the treaty. Ratification of the treaty by the UK would take place under the procedures set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, whereby the treaty and an explanatory memorandum would be laid before both Houses for 21 sitting days. No decision has yet been taken on a timetable to ratify the treaty.

Trade Agreements

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects bilateral trade agreements with each country with which such agreements are being negotiated to be (a) concluded and (b) laid before Parliament for approval.

Anna Soubry: The Government is seeking to increase the pace of EU trade negotiations. The Government is pushing for conclusion of a deal with the USA under the Obama Administration. We hope to agree the outline of an agreement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year. Such a timeframe might see a text laid for UK ratification towards the end of this Parliament.   On the EU-Japan negotiations, we are seeking agreement in principle on an ambitious trade agreement by the end of 2015. Once the text is agreed we would anticipate it being brought to Parliament for approval within 24 months.   The text of the EU-Canada trade agreement should be laid before Parliament next year. Negotiations have concluded for Ecuador to join the EU-Andean Community trade agreement. Signature is expected before the end of this year, leading to a text being laid before Parliament in 2016.   The agreed EU-Singapore text is currently with the European Court of Justice for an assessment on competence. This will delay ratification and timescales are as yet unclear, but this agreement may possibly be laid before Parliament in 2017. EU-Vietnam negotiations could conclude in the coming months. This might therefore see the text being laid before Parliament in 2016 or 2017.   Negotiations between the EU and West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa concluded in 2014. Signature could happen this year leading to the texts being laid before Parliament in 2016.   The Government is pushing for trade negotiations with India and Mercosur to be unblocked; timelines remain unclear. Negotiations with Morocco are currently difficult to predict. Negotiations with Thailand are on hold due to the current political situation. The Gulf Cooperation Council has suspended all its trade negotiations.

Trade Agreements

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on concluding the Trade in Services Agreement; when he expects that agreement to be laid before Parliament for approval; and if he will make a statement to the House when that agreement is so laid.

Anna Soubry: The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) will enter into its 13th round of negotiations in early July.   Progress to date has been steady and the overall mood remains positive amongst TiSA participants, with substantive progress having been made in several core chapters. The upcoming round will aim to consolidate the progress and set parameters on the content of the agreement.   There is no set deadline for ending negotiations but the hope is for a conclusion mid 2016.   Once the agreement has been concluded and ratified by each Member State, the agreement will then be laid before Parliament. A statement is expected to be made to the House at that point.

EU External Trade: Canada

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on concluding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada; when he expects that agreement to be laid before Parliament for approval; and if he will make a statement to the House when that agreement is so laid.

Anna Soubry: Negotiations for the EU Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) concluded in September 2014. The text of the agreement is currently under legal review and then it will be translated into all the EU official languages before being presented to the EU Council for signature and then the European Parliament for approval. I would expect the text to laid before Parliament in late 2016. I do expect to make a statement to the House when the agreement is laid.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to promote automotive manufacturing in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Through the long-term economic plan the Government is creating the right business environment for automotive manufacturers to prosper by removing barriers to productivity and growth. We will do this through de-regulation, by promoting fair competition and by simplifying the business support landscape. We will work closely with the automotive sector, in particular through the Automotive Council, to understand its needs and what more the Government can do to help retain its competitive position within the global market.

Motor Vehicles: Exports

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to promote the export of automotive products; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Our Trade Advisers work with companies across the UK to provide step by step advice and guidance on automotive exports. Last year we supported £421m worth of automotive exports.

Green Investment Bank

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which investment bank or banks his Department has had discussions with on the proposed privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: My Department is receiving financial advice on the proposed transaction from Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and Herbert Smith Freehills are providing legal advice. UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) is separately receiving its own financial advice from UBS and legal advice from Slaughter & May.   The detail of discussions with potential investors is commercially confidential but I can confirm that GIB, UBS and BAML have had initial discussions with a number of institutional investors to test the likely level of interest in acquiring a stake in GIB. As a result, we believe the time is now right to explore the scope for a sale. We will only proceed with a transaction if satisfied it delivers value for money to the taxpayer.

Green Investment Bank

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial targets the Green Investment Bank (a) achieved and (b) missed in the last financial year.

Anna Soubry: Details of UK Green Investment Bank plc’s performance against its key performance indicators in 2014/15 are set out in the company’s annual report and accounts which were published in June.

Ministry of Defence

Future Large Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what outstanding safety issues there are relating to the A400m Atlas aircraft; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The A400M Atlas aircraft is being procured as part of a six nation European collaborative programme, and the aircraft type has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The granting of the Type Certificate by EASA in March 2013 was the culmination of the analysis and assessment of detailed evidence from the multinational flight trials programme and a range of other sources. Separately, an independent Certification and Qualification Organization, established by the partner nations, reviews all of the certification evidence and provides additional military certification expertise.Prior to entry into service with the RAF, the UK Release to Service Authority (which is headed by the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff) endorsed the Release to Service (RTS) for the UK Atlas aircraft. The aircraft RTS is granted based on a number of recommendations provided by a range of competent individuals and bodies, including the Military Aviation Authority, the A400M Type Airworthiness Authority and independent experts. These recommendations also include the Safety Case (endorsed by the Duty Holder) which evaluates the relevant safety risks to establish the parameters for the safe operation of the aircraft. The RTS is part of the overall Aircraft Document Set for the UK A400M Atlas which stipulates, amongst other things, the bounds within which the aircraft should be operated and how it should be maintained.Following the tragic loss on 9 May 2015 of a pre-delivery A400M aircraft, and in accordance with its continuing airworthiness obligations as the aircraft Design Organization and Type Certificate holder, Airbus Defence and Space has undertaken extensive investigations to establish the cause of the accident. As a result of this work the cause is now understood, and mitigation actions have been put in place to prevent a recurrence. These measures have been endorsed by the relevant certification bodies and were also considered, along with other evidence, by the RAF Operational Duty Holder (AOC 2 Gp) when the decision to resume RAF A400M flying was taken on 15 June 2015.On this basis the Ministry of Defence is satisfied that there are no safety issues, and that the risks associated with operating A400M are fully consistent with its certified safety requirements - for the basic airframe and engine these are consistent with a civilian airliner - and that the platform is not subject to intolerable or unmanaged safety issues.

Kurds

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to support Kurdish forces fighting ISIL in the Syrian town of Kobane and the surrounding area.

Penny Mordaunt: Within Iraq the UK has helped train over 1,500 Kurdish Peshmerga across a range of infantry, counter-Improvised Explosive Device, weapons maintenance and protection of civilian courses. UK air strikes have helped halt, hold and begin to roll-back ISIL, including in Kurdish areas. We have also gifted over 50 tonnes of equipment, 40 heavy machine guns, nearly half a million rounds of ammunition and delivered over 300 tonnes of weapons and ammunition on behalf of other coalition nations.The coalition is helping counter-ISIL in Syria and coalition airstrikes have helped Kurdish forces liberate and then defend Kobane. The UK is not conducting any airstrikes in Syria but does have intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft periodically operating over Syria.

Reserve Forces

Brendan O’Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many  staff made redundant by his Department in each of the last five years were later taken up as reservists.

Mr Julian Brazier: The table shows the number of Armed Forces personnel who were made redundant in each of the last five financial years who have since joined the Volunteer Reserves. The Volunteer Reserve comprises the Maritime Reserve, Army Reserve and Royal Air Force Reserve. Financial YearNumber of Service personnel made redundantNumber of Redundant Service Personnel who joined the Volunteer Reserve2010-11--2011-121,700602012-133,4701902013-144,2804002014-151,350100 1) UK Regular Forces comprise Full Time trained and un-trained personnel and exclude Ghurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service and Reservists. 2) - = zero or rounded to zero. 3) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Ministry of Defence: Redundancy Pay

Brendan O’Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b) other staff employed by his Department have received redundancy payments in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: The number of UK Regular Forces and civilian staff employed by the Ministry of Defence who received a redundancy payment over the last five financial years is as follows:  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15UK Regular Forces01,7003,4704,2801,350Civilian Staff2406,0003,3201,010880 All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. UK Regular Forces comprises all full-time Armed Forces personnel excluding Gurkhas, full-time Reserve Service personnel and mobilised reservists. Civilian figures include staff who were made redundant and those who left the Department under the terms of the Voluntary Early Release Scheme and received a compensation payment.

Afghanistan: Dogs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many dogs his Department quarantined and transported back to the UK following the end of Operation Herrick in 2014; and when each such animal was transported back to the UK.

Penny Mordaunt: All military working dogs are compliant with the Pet Travel Scheme and there was therefore no requirement for them to be placed in quarantine. At the end of Operation HERRICK in 2014 34 military working dogs were returned from Afghanistan. Three dogs were returned to the United Kingdom and the remainder were returned to 1 Military Working Dog Regiment in Germany. They were returned in six batches on the following dates: 21 August 2014, 8 September 2014, 28 September 2014, 8 October 2014, 18 October 2014 and 29 October 2014.

Armed Forces: Leave

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average availability of indulgence flights in military aircraft for army personnel serving overseas returning to the UK on leave has been in the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of serving military personnel in combat zones purchased their own clothing in preference to army issue kit.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD).The MOD is fully committed to ensuring that our Armed Forces are properly resourced, funded and equipped. There may be occasions when serving personnel opt to customise the equipment provided to them. However, there is no need for them to do so and it is purely a matter of personal choice.

Armed Forces: General Elections

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department made arrangements for serving military personnel to vote in person at the recent General Election.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, (Lord Astor of Hever), to the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, in the House of Lords to Question HL207.I trust this demonstrates that where Service personnel are unable to vote in person, other options have been publicised.



4957 - Hansard extract on AF: General Election
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Armed Forces: Uniforms

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of the quality and robustness of army issue clothing for serving military personnel.

Mr Philip Dunne: All clothing items issued to UK Armed Forces are made to stringent specifications developed after field trials and laboratory testing to ensure that the garment is fit for purpose for the task required.The range, quality and versatility of the clothing we issue to our troops is far greater than it has ever been and we are continually working to make further improvements.

Army: Deployment

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of tour for army personnel serving overseas in combat zones has been in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The majority of Army personnel deployed to Afghanistan had an average tour length of approximately 180 days, in line with the standard operational tour length.The Army's policy is that six months is the optimal tour length for an intense operational deployment within a combat zone. Over the past three years, as service in the Afghanistan combat zone was drawn to a close, the standard tour length remained six months. Some personnel were required to serve up to 12 months and some specialist personnel had tours of four months or less.

Army: Leave

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average annual allowance is for army personnel serving overseas for travel on leave back to the UK.

Mark Lancaster: Allowable costs vary widely with location, ranging from £148 for Germany to £1,235 for Diego Garcia. In financial year 2014-15 Army personnel claimed an average of £380.

Armed Forces: Leave

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who is responsible for paying the cost of the excess on a travel insurance claim for cancelled flights when leave is cancelled at short notice for soldiers serving overseas.

Mark Lancaster: Service personnel who have purchased an insurance policy which includes cancellation cover are entitled to claim back the excess fee from the Ministry of Defence when their leave is cancelled at short notice for service reasons.

Army: Food

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the nutritional value of army provided meals for army personnel serving overseas.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence personnel in the UK and permanent bases overseas are primarily catered for through a number of multi-activity contracts. Armed Forces personnel serving on operations, exercises and HM Ships and Submarines, are catered for under a single food supply contract with Purple Foodservice Solutions Ltd.The daily diet provided for each member of the Armed Forces serving on operations and exercises ensures that their meals are both nutritious and varied and provide a minimum of 4,000 calories per day, this being the recommended daily allowance required for such activity.

Navy: Officers

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel the Royal Navy employs at the rank of Admiral.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy employs the following number of Admirals or their Royal Marine equivalent. RankNaval ServiceAdmiral (OF-9)1Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General (OF-8)11Rear Admiral/Major General (OF-7)28Total40 It is important to note that not all these posts are directly employed by the Royal Navy; senior appointments are filled on a rotational or competition basis across the Ministry of Defence, NATO, and the European Union Military Staff. The number of Admirals increases and decreases in accordance with which 'Joint' positions are filled by the Naval Service.

Germany: Military Bases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on withdrawing (a) service personnel, (b) civilian staff, (c) equipment and (d) other military assets from Germany to date.

Penny Mordaunt: The costs associated with the withdrawal of personnel and assets from Germany fall to a number of budgetary areas across the Department. They are not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Germany: Military Bases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) armed forces personnel, (b) civilian staff, (c) equipment and (d) other British military assets have been withdrawn from Germany since 2013.

Penny Mordaunt: We remain on track to meet the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 commitment to withdraw our forces from Germany by 2020. The proportion of Armed Forces Regular personnel and civilian staff who have been withdrawn from Germany between the period 1 January 2013 and 1 April 2015 is 32.5% and 23.6% respectively.Units are responsible for returning their equipment and other assets to the UK. Some equipment, for example left-hand drive vehicles, has remained in Germany and is managed on a fleet basis. As a result the overall proportions are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Navy

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many seagoing units the Royal Navy operates.

Penny Mordaunt: The Royal Navy currently operates the sea going units listed below.  Order of BattleLanding Platform Helicopter1Landing Platform Dock2Type 45 Destroyer6Type 23 Frigate13Hunt Class Mine Countermeasure Vessel (MCMV)8Sandown Class MCMV7River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel3Helicopter Offshore Patrol Vessel1P2000 Patrol Boats16Light Patrol Vessels2Ocean Survey Vessel1Coastal Survey Vessel2Survey Motor Launch1Ice Patrol Ship1Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear4Ship Submersible Nuclear6

Red Arrows

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Strategic Defence Review will consider the future of the Red Arrows.

Michael Fallon: The Strategic Defence and Security Review will look at all defence capabilities. As I, and the Prime Minister have made clear, so long as there is a Conservative Government, the Red Arrows will continue to fly.

Education: Armed Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on educating the children of service personnel based in Germany in each year since 2010; and how many pupils have been so educated.

Mark Lancaster: The cost of educating the children of Service personnel based in Germany, by financial year, since 2010 is as follows:2010-11 £47 million2011-12 £53 million2012-13 £51 million2013-14 £44 million2014-15 £42 millionFigures have been rounded to the nearest million.The number of pupils educated in Germany since 2010, by academic year is, as follows:7,619 in 2010-116,988 in 2011-125,922 in 2012-134,970 in 2013-143,679 in 2014-15

Germany: Military Bases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's plans are for the maintenance of graves of former UK service personnel and their dependents currently in British army bases in Germany; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: There are no military cemeteries for British Service personnel and dependants on British bases in Germany. The Rheindahlen Military Cemetery was transferred to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in 2013. We are in discussions with the CWGC to take over management of the Limmer Military Cemetery later this year.

Military Aircraft: Accidents

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many category A and B airprox incidents involving at least one fast jet of each event classification and each aircraft type have happened within a 100-mile radius of (a) Aberdeen, (b) Inverness, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Glasgow and (e) Prestwick Airport in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of category A and B airprox incidents involving a UK fast jet aircraft which have happened within a 100 mile radius of Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick Airport in each of the last five years is provided below: Total number of Airprox incidents (Category A and Category B)2010: Category A = 3, Category B = 42011: Category A = 0, Category B = 02012: Category A = 2, Category B = 02013: Category A = 0, Category B = 12014: Category A = 1, Category B = 4  100 nautical mile radius of:20102011201220132014 ABABABABABAberdeen2100100101Inverness2200100101Edinburgh2300100112Glasgow2300000101Prestwick airport2200000001

Military Aircraft: Accidents

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which of the (a) Tornado or (b) Super Tucano aircraft involved in the airprox incident near Inverness Airport on 5 February 2015 had a collision warning system installed; and whether those systems activated a warning when the aircraft came within close proximity.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Tucano aircraft was fitted with a traffic alert and collision avoidance system which detected the Tornado aircraft and displayed a warning to the crew of the Tucano aircraft.

Military Aircraft: Accidents

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fast jets involved in airprox incidents in UK airspace in the last 12 months had a collision warning system installed; and how many of those collision warning systems issued a command.

Mr Philip Dunne: Of the Royal Air Force fast jets involved in 'airprox' incidents, in UK airspace, over the last 12 months, eight were equipped with collision warning systems. For each of these, the system in question detected the presence of another aircraft, effective avoiding action was taken prior to the parameters being reached for a command to be issued.

Ministry of Defence: Taxis

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on taxis for (a) military and (b) civilian staff in each month since April 2014.

Mark Lancaster: In financial year 2014-15 £692,000 was spent on military staff taxis. This is a reduction of more than 30% from the £1,082,769 spent in 2009-10 under the then Labour Government.Monthly expenditure on taxi fares since April 2014 is as follows:Military StaffMonthExpenditureApril 2014£51,150May 2014£57,137June 2014£61,615July 2014£63,238August 2014£40,319September 2014£55,171October 2014£65,450November 2014£62,349December 2014£61,343January 2015£48,700February 2015£54,655March 2015£71,309April 2015£52,689May 2015£51,300June 2015£63,085Civilian StaffExpenditure on taxi fares is not recorded separately from expenditure on other types of public transport where fares can be reimbursed to staff as business expenses (such as for bus and underground travel).Our military and civilian staff may use a taxi for official duty where there is a business benefit to the Department or where it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available or where heavy baggage or equipment has to be carried.

Military Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, under which Minister in his Department responsibility for military airworthiness lies.

Mr Philip Dunne: Airworthiness in relation to whether an aircraft is legally safe to fly is my responsibility as Minister for Defence Procurement. Aircraft accidents are the responsibility of the Minister of State for the Armed Forces. The Defence Safety Authority (which has subsumed the Military Aircraft Authority) is now the responsibility of the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans.

Libya: Military Bases

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2850, what estimate he has made of the total cost of repairs to be paid for by the Libyan government following the Libyan training mission at Bassingbourn base; what payments in respect of those repairs have been made by that government; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2850, what estimate he has made of the cost of repairs required following the Libyan training mission at Bassingbourn base; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The total cost of repairs required at Bassingbourn Barracks was £138,000, this work has been completed and paid for by the Ministry of Defence. The costs are currently being recovered from the Libyan Government.

Libya: Military Bases

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2855, how much the Defence Infrastructure Organisation has spent on Bassingbourn barracks since January 2013; what the nature and cost was of each improvement so funded at that barracks in that time period; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: No investment has been made at Bassingbourn Barracks since handover of the Barracks to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation in January 2013.

Libya: Military Bases

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 3418, on Libya: military training, where in the Answer of 3 March 2015 to Question 219659 the response to Question 3418 is contained; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: As per my answer on 3 March 2015 to Question 219659, the Ministry of Defence based Libyan personnel at Bassingbourn because it offered the required facilities for training and did not affect wider UK military training. As part of the preparation of Bassingbourn for training, security improvements were carried out, such as fencing off areas of the camp from local residences. The Army also held rehearsal meetings at Bassingbourn to identify and coordinate the mitigation of risks, including with the Home Office and the police. The Department has also met with Cambridge City Council following the termination of the training to discuss the findings of the report, and has written to them on a number of occasions.

Armed Forces

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, What his policy is on the size of the regular armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt: We have committed to maintaining the size of the regular Armed Forces, and we will continue to ensure we have the right mix of people and skills to deliver our world-leading defence capabilities.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the (a) total cost and (b) number of units that will be produced by the F-35B aircraft programme.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has made an estimate of both the unit and total cost of the UK's F-35B programme but does not release these costs as to do so could undermine its commercial position. These estimates are under constant review and updated as information is provided by the US programme.

Future Large Aircraft

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the unit costs of the A400M aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: The current forecast cost of the UK A400M aircraft acquisition programme is £2.75 billion, as reported in the Major Projects Report 2014.This amount represents the expected cost of the programme to deliver the 22 A400M Atlas aircraft ordered by the RAF and encompasses some necessary costs (including, for example, safety, certification and airworthiness activities) in addition to the actual price of individual aircraft.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the unit costs of the F-35B aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has made an estimate of the unit cost of the UK's F-35B but does not release this data as to do so could undermine its commercial position. These estimates are under constant review and are updated as information is provided by the US programme. A generic and publically releasable estimate is published by the US Department of Defense within the annual selected acquisition reports for the Joint Strike Fighter programme.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Devolution: Lancashire

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to devolve powers to people resident in (a) West Lancashire and (b) Lancashire.

James Wharton: The Government has introduced the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill that will enable the devolution of powers to local areas to drive economic growth. The Government welcomes proposals for increased powers and greater freedoms to maximise economic growth from all parts of the country and I met with the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership on Friday 3 July to hear how this opportunity can build on the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal and Lancashire Growth Deal.

Affordable Housing: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of affordable homes that will be (a) started and (b) completed in (i) Lewisham, Deptford constituency, (ii) the London Borough of Lewisham and (iii) London.

Brandon Lewis: The Department does not forecast affordable housing delivery by locality by year. The Government is committed to deliver 275,000 affordable homes in England across 2015-20 with £38 billion of public and private investment.

Temporary Accommodation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many social housing tenants were temporarily rehoused outside their local authority area in (a) Lewisham, (b) London and (c) the UK in the last year.

Brandon Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing: Prices

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the average house price has risen in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Enfield and (d) Enfield North constituency in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on house prices in England, London, London boroughs and constituencies are published by the Office for National Statistics at:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=House+Price+Indices

Housing: Owner Occupation

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of households were owner-occupied in (a) London and (b) Enfield in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2014-15.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on home ownership for London and the London Borough of Enfield, based on Census 2011 data, are published by the Office for National Statistics, and are available at the following link. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks402ew

Families: Disadvantaged

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of participants in the Troubled Families programme to date have been single parents.

Greg Clark: The Understanding Troubled Families report, published in 2014 and based on a sample of 8,447 troubled families, found that 49% were lone parent households, compared to 17% in the wider population. Further demographic detail of the families in the original Troubled Families Programme (2012-15) will become available from its independent national evaluation later this year.

Families: Disadvantaged

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which local authorities have local jobcentre plus staff been appointed to assist in the delivery of the Troubled Families programme.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what role Jobcentre Plus plays in the referral of benefit claimants to participate in the Troubled Families programme.

Greg Clark: Over 300 Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches are based in 149 upper-tier local authorities and are working with their troubled families teams to support delivery of the programme’s employment outcomes. The only upper-tier local authorities without dedicated Jobcentre Plus staff are the City of London, Isles of Scilly and Rutland. These three areas have the lowest numbers of troubled families. These Jobcentre Plus staff work closely with local services in addressing the multiple barriers to employment faced by troubled families, including mental health problems, substance misuse and low skills.

Urban Areas

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage the protection of green spaces in town centres.

Brandon Lewis: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should pursue policies to support the viability and vitality of town centres. The Framework also provides strong protection for open space. It makes clear that existing open space should not be built on unless an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown it to be surplus to requirements, or the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location. The Framework enables local communities to identify green areas of particular importance to them for special protection by designating them as Local Green Space, through the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the consultation document, Planning and travellers, issued in September 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Government intends to publish its response to the consultation shortly.

Housing: Owner Occupation

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of rent-to-mortgage schemes in promoting home ownership; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: This Government does not currently run a Rent to Mortgage scheme. The Government has introduced a number of programmes to help people into home ownership. So far, over 228,000 households have been helped to buy or reserve property since spring 2010 through Government-backed schemes, including Help to Buy and Right to Buy. Our commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes this Parliament will ensure even more people have the opportunity to move into home ownership.

Housing: Owner Occupation

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the proportion of home ownership was in (a) England, (b) East Sussex and (c) Lewes constituency in each of the last 18 years; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Decennial statistics on home ownership for England, East Sussex and Lewes constituency, based on Census data, are published by the Office for National Statistics, and are available at the following links. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks402ew www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk

Mayors

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what statutory frameworks for democratic accountability his Department plans will apply to Metro Mayors.

Mr Mark Francois: As provided for in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, metro mayors, who are directly accountable to the people through the ballot box, will be a clear and effective single point of democratic accountability, which will be further strengthened by being statutorily held to account throughout their term of office by strong and independent overview and scrutiny committees.

Parking

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the findings of his Department's consultation, Parking reform: tackling unfair practices, published on 28 March 2015.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department received in excess of 400 responses to the consultation, Parking reform: tackling unfair practices, launched on the 28 March 2015. We are currently analysing these and intend to publish a summary of responses as soon as possible.

Building Inspectors

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what measures are in place to ensure that approved building inspectors abide by the (a) Code of Conduct for Approved Inspectors, (b) Disciplinary Procedures of the Construction Industry Councils Approved Inspectors Register and (c) Building Control Performance Standards.

James Wharton: Approved inspectors are required to abide by the Code of Conduct for Approved Inspectors and Disciplinary Procedures of the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register. The Code of Conduct also includes a requirement to abide by the Building Control Performance Standards and all approved inspectors are required to operate in accordance with both documents. If it is found that an approved inspector is not complying with relevant regulations and the Code of Conduct, including the Building Control Performance Standards, the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register may withdraw or not renew their approval.

Building Inspectors

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register on (a) monitoring of approved building inspectors to ensure continued compliance with statutory regulations and (b) how existing building inspector licence renewals are evaluated and approved.

James Wharton: The Department has regular discussions with the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register about the way it discharges its functions.

Building Inspectors

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department requires the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register to collect when approved building inspectors are submitting licence renewals.

James Wharton: The Department expects the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register to collect sufficient information to enable it to make appropriate decisions when considering applications by approved inspectors to renew their approvals. It recently introduced new procedures for renewing approvals. Information about these procedures is available on its website.

Temporary Accommodation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of families with children living in temporary accommodation in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing: Construction

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of affordable homes built in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on additional affordable housing provided in each local authority area in England are published in the Department’s live table 1008, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply These figures include both newly built housing and acquisitions.

Communities and Local Government: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by his Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Mr Mark Francois: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, Government Departments are required to publicise successful appointments.

Social Rented Housing: Evictions

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authority tenants have been evicted for rent arrears from properties where the under-occupancy charge applies and children under the age of 18 live in the property in each of the last three years.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authority tenants have been evicted for rent arrears from properties where the under-occupancy charge applies in each of the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not held centrally.

Housing: Owner Occupation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of households were owner-occupied in (a) London and (b) the London Borough of Lewisham in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2015.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on home ownership for London and the London Borough of Lewisham, based on Census 2011 data, are published by the Office for National Statistics, and are available at the following link. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks402ew

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation: Lewisham

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families with children living in bed and breakfast accommodation in the London Borough of Lewisham have been so accommodated for more than six weeks; and how many families with children are living in bed and breakfast accommodation in the London Borough of Lewisham.

Mr Marcus Jones: As at 31 March 2015 there were 58 households with dependent children temporarily housed by Lewisham council in bed and breakfast style accommodation. None of these households had been so accommodated for more than six weeks.

Housing: Headcorn

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will request Maidstone Borough Council to require the applicant to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed development at Hazelpits Farm, Headcorn (Application Ref: 15/503325/Hybrid) prior to the determination by Maidstone Borough Council's planning committee planned for 9 July 2015.

Brandon Lewis: My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State is already considering this request.The local authority has been informed of this request and it is a matter for them to decide how this should inform their planning decision making process, including the forthcoming committee.

Scotland Office

SG First Minister: Diplomatic Relations

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether any (a) Minister and (b) Scotland Office Special Advisers were sent responses to Freedom of Information requests concerning the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015 containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador before they were sent to the inquirers.

David Mundell: Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not normally disclosed.

SG First Minister: Diplomatic Relations

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he was sent a copy of the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015 containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he first became aware of the memorandum written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015, containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether any special advisers in the Scotland Office were sent a copy of the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015 containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he first became aware that the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015, containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and French Ambassador, had been leaked.

David Mundell: Following the leak of a Scotland Office memorandum that formed the basis of a story in the Daily Telegraph on 3 April, which was when I first became aware of the leak, the Cabinet Secretary instigated a Cabinet Office-led inquiry to establish how the memo to which the honourable Member refers came to be written and how it got into the public domain. The findings of the inquiry were published on the 22 May 2015 and are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/scotland-office-memorandum-leak-cabinet-office-inquiry-statement. These findings specifically refer to the role of the then Special Advisor and the former Secretary of State for Scotland. These findings also make clear that no one else had any involvement in the leaking of the memo.

Scotland Office: Management

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, who the members of the management board of his Department are; and how many of those members are women.

David Mundell: The members of the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General’s Joint Management Board are:Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon David Mundell MP;Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, Lord Dunlop;Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Keen of Elie QC;Francesca Osowska, Director of the Scotland Office;Michael Chalmers, Director of the Office of the Advocate General;Ruaraidh Macniven, Legal Secretary to the Advocate General for Scotland;Helena Gray, Deputy Director, Scotland Office;Graeme Bissett, Non-Executive Director;Joyce Cullen, Non-Executive Director;Shonaig Macpherson, Non-Executive Director;Edward Adams, Non-Executive Director. Four members of the management Board are women.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland

Stewart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2015 to Question 3377 on High Speed 2 railway line: Scotland, what the content of the discussion at that meeting was.

David Mundell: My answer of 30 June 2015 to question 3377 covered the content of my meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport. Included in the discussion on the benefits to Scotland of HS2 was the current estimates that suggest the Scottish Economy will benefit by around £3bn.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland

Stewart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of the (a) High Speed 2 line extending to Scotland and (b) construction of that line beginning in Scotland.

David Mundell: Advice has been prepared by HS2 Ltd in conjunction with the UK Government and the Scottish Government to identify broad options for high speed and upgraded railways to the north of England and Scotland. This is currently under consideration by Ministers and will be published in due course.

Overseas Trade: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he last met the Minister of State for Trade and Investment to discuss trade and investment opportunities for Scotland.

David Mundell: I have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues on a range of issues including opportunities to promote Scotland. I plan to meet the Minister of State for Trade and Investment shortly to discuss trade and investment opportunities.

Trade Promotion: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what plans he has to lead trade and investment missions for Scottish companies to North America.

David Mundell: UKTI leads a wide programme of engagement to promote opportunities for UK companies in North America. I will be working with Scottish business leaders over the coming months to consider options for specific trade and investment engagement in North America.

Trade Promotion: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what plans he has to lead trade and investment missions for Scottish companies to Asia.

David Mundell: UKTI leads a wide programme of engagement to promote opportunities for UK companies in Asia. I will be working with Scottish business leaders over the coming months to consider options for specific trade and investment engagement during the life of this parliament.

Trade Promotion: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish a strategy for the promotion of Scotland as a location for trade and investment.

David Mundell: UKTI and SDI work in partnership to promote Scotland as a location for trade and investment. The Scotland Office will work with both UKTI and SDI to take forward the recommendations raised in the Wilson Review of support for Scottish Exporting.

Women and Equalities

Public Bodies: Equality

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the value and efficacy of equality impact assessments by public authorities in addressing the effects of policies on groups with protected characteristics.

Caroline Dinenage: It has never been a legal requirement in England to produce an equality impact assessment (EIA). The public sector equality duty and its supporting regulations require public bodies to have due regard to equality considerations when shaping policy and services, but it is up to individual public bodies to decide the best way to record how they have taken equality into account. The independent Steering Group which conducted a review of the PSED and reported in 2013 reported that some public bodies found EIAs helpful and that when carried out well they could highlight examples of good practice.

Equal Pay

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when and with whom she consulted on the details of regulations to be introduced under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 for the purpose of requiring the publication of information showing whether there are differences in the pay of males and females.

Caroline Dinenage: A public consultation will be published soon with a view to making regulations in the first half of 2016. Building on the series of well-attended stakeholder events last year, in this Parliament we have already consulted business, civil society and trade unions as part of continuing engagement around the gender pay reporting. We will be engaging other interested parties before the regulations are prepared.

Sports: Females

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, which women's (a) rugby, (b) cricket and (c) football matches she has attended in an official capacity since taking office.

Caroline Dinenage: The Women and Equalities has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Equal Opportunities

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to implement the conclusions of the Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain, published in December 2010, particularly those in Section 3 of that strategy involving the devolution of power to local authorities.

Caroline Dinenage: A progress report on the Equality Strategy was published on 22 May 2012. In relation to Section 3 of that strategy, the Department for Communities and Local Government is undertaking a number of initiatives in support of this aim. These include the Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods programme, which is providing 24 local authorities with grants to redesign services so that they are delivered at neighbourhood level, and the Our Place programme, which is putting the local community at the heart of decision making by bringing together local councillors, public servants, businesses and the community to revolutionise the way the neighbourhood works.

Department for Transport

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the electrification of the Valley Lines in Wales to be completed.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: We are contributing £125million to the Welsh Government’s Valley Lines electrification scheme. The delivery of this scheme is a matter for the Welsh Government.

Network Rail: Meetings

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates in the last six months he has held meetings with the chief executive of Network Rail at which officials were not present.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: In the last six months I have not held any meetings with Network Rail’s Chief Executive at which no official was present.

Railways: North of England

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department notified bidders for the TransPennine Express Rail franchise that rail electrification would not be delivered on the original timetable.

Andrew Jones: The Invitation To Tender for the TransPennine Express competition was issued in February, formally notifying bidders that they should not assume that Trans-Pennine electrification would be completed for the purposes of their bids.

Railways: North of England

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the effect of the delay to electrification of the Transpennine line on procurement of new rolling stock for the Transpennine franchise.

Andrew Jones: The TransPennine Express Invitation to Tender, published on 27 February 2015, did not require bidders to procure electric rolling stock for the trans-Pennine route, on the basis that this would be delivered through changes to the Franchise Agreement that would be negotiated during the new franchise when the detailed plans for electrification were in place.   The franchise specification requires bidders to deliver a substantial increase in capacity into the major cities in the north of England by December 2018.

Railways: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in discussions with train operating companies on the introduction of flexible rail season ticket options.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the results were of his Department's 2014 pilot study of how rail season tickets could be better tailored towards part-time workers.

Andrew Jones: A competition was held in December 2014 for a trial to gather evidence on flexible rail ticketing, which has the potential to provide a better deal for passengers who work part-time or are not daily commuters. Positive expressions of interest were received from seven operators in the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme area; we are working with them so they can introduce flexible ticketing products as soon as possible following the roll out of smart ticketing in 2016 and 2017. The Department is also considering a report by Southern Railway, on their flexible ticketing trial, and is discussing with Govia Thameslink Railways and c2c, their franchise, obligations to introduce flexible ticketing products by 30 September 2015 and 31 May 2016 respectively.

Railways: Infrastructure

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 4164, whether any of the meetings referred to in that Answer which were held outside the UK were on alternative mechanisms for funding rail infrastructure management activities in the UK.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: Departmental officials regularly meet with a range of stakeholders and representatives from across the rail industry, both within the UK and abroad. These discussions can cover a variety of subjects.

Driving: Safety

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the safety implications of drivers being interviewed on film whilst driving.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport encourages broadcasters to adopt a responsible attitude towards driving issues and to use the Media Guide prepared by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which provides advice. Page 2 of the Guide explains that it is bad practice for a driver to speak to camera without watching the road ahead. The Guide is freely available on-line at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/roadmedia.pdf.  Rules 148–150 of The Official Highway Code advises drivers to avoid distractions.　 The rules make it clear that drivers must exercise proper control of their vehicle.   Under sections 2 and 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 a person may be charged with the offences of dangerous, careless and inconsiderate driving.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library (a) Major Project Authority reports on High Speed 2 for 2013-14 and (b) an update on such reports for 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government has no plans to place the MPA review reports for 2013-14 in the House of Commons library.   Major Project Authority (MPA) reports are confidential: the reports are designed to provide government and project teams with a frank assessment of a project’s progress and challenges at a point in time.   The assessment is based on a review of documents and candid interviews with project personnel.　 Disclosure of these reports may cause future interviewees for this project or others to be less frank in their exchanges, undermining the integrity and value of the process.

Railways: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of track Network Rail plans to electrify during Control Period 5.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: I have asked the new Chairman of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy, to develop a proposal for re-planning the enhancements programme by the autumn. The plan for electrification will be included in that proposal. I would note however that the previous Labour administration managed just ten miles of electrification in 13 years.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the benefit-cost ratio for Great Western Main Line electrification was on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The most recent estimate of the benefit-cost ratio for Great Western Electrification, dating from February 2015, was 2.36.   The benefit-cost ratio reflects the costs and benefits of electrifying the Great Western network and introducing new electric and bi-mode IEP trains on long distance services and electric multiple units on suburban services.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department received from Network Rail in (a) final and (b) draft form (i) a full Control Period 5 recast and (b) a revised Control Period 5 Business Plan between 1 December 2014 and 30 March 2015.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: Officials from the Department for Transport and Network Rail regularly discussed Network Rail’s Business Plan update in the period of December 2014 to March 2015. In March, Network Rail provided early forecasts for the remainder of Control Period 5 for delivery volumes and costs in operations, maintenance and renewals, but these were not submitted for consideration as a worked-up plan due to further work being required, including on enhancements.

Roads

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will conduct a further review into the capacity of the road network in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Infrastructure Act 2015 commits the government to regularly reviewing the needs of England’s strategic road network, and also to create regular Road Investment Strategies that take the findings of these reviews into account.   I expect to make a statement later in the year about the process for developing the next Road Investment Strategy.

Motor Vehicles: Innovation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the development of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Andrew Jones: The Government recognises the strong science and engineering capability of the United Kingdom and has committed to encourage development of autonomous and connected vehicles in our country.   The "Pathway to Driverless Car" report, published by the Department for Transport in February 2015, reviews the current legal position and sets out necessary steps to ensure laws are appropriate to accommodate the use of autonomous vehicles.   This report will help facilitate a 3-year trial of driverless car technology being undertaken in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich. The Department for Transport, together with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Her Majesty’s Treasury are providing £19m to support this activity.   The Department for Transport believes that these technologies have the potential to deliver benefits for the UK automotive sector and society as a whole, and we have an ambition to make the UK a world leader for autonomous vehicle research, development, demonstration, and deployment. Working with Department for Business Innovation and Skills, we will be looking at how to realise this ambition and consider all possible routes for promoting technological developments and uptake.

Bridges: North West

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding he is making available to (a) Warrington and Cheshire West and (b) Chester councils to enable residents to travel toll-free across the Silver Jubilee Bridge and Mersey Gateway Bridge when those bridges are opened.

Andrew Jones: We are currently examining what the proposed extension of the local discount scheme for the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridges means for the scheme, in terms of the cost to the Department and the commercial structure of the contracts already signed for the scheme. Once this is clear we will be able to provide more information.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the uptake and production of ultra-low emission vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: This government is aiming is for almost every car and van to be a zero emission vehicle by 2050, and we pledged in our manifesto to invest £500 million over the next five years to achieve this objective. We will target this funding to support the purchase of ultra low emission cars, vans, taxis, buses, and other vehicles; supporting recharging infrastructure and gas and hydrogen refuelling stations; and substantial support for research and development into supporting technologies.

Taxis

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission's report on taxi and private hire services, Cm 8864, published May 2014.

Andrew Jones: The Government is currently considering the Law Commission’s comprehensive report on reforming taxi and private hire vehicle legislation. In line with the protocol that exists between the Government and the Law Commission, we will provide a full response in due course.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Chief Executive of Network Rail has sought formal direction to proceed on any matter in his capacity as Network Rail's Accounting Officer since 1 September 2014.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: Network Rail’s Chief Executive has not asked for my formal direction to proceed on any matter in his capacity as Network Rail’s Accounting Officer.

Railways: Infrastructure

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what departmental resources his Department plans to make available to Dame Colette Bowe during her investigation into investment planning; how many officials he plans will work on that report; whether he plans that Dame Colette Bowe will report directly to him; and if he will publish the terms of reference for that inquiry.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: Dame Colette Bowe is being supported by four members of staff from the Department and two members of staff from the Government Internal Audit Agency. Dame Colette will report in the autumn when the Review will be published. The Terms of Reference for the Review are attached and will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. 



Terms of Reference
(PDF Document, 144.69 KB)

London Bridge Station

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Southern Railway on compensation for passengers using Southern Railway's Metro Line who have been affected by the regular disruption to rail services at London Bridge.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Railways: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Network Rail's total expenditure has been to date on (a) TransPennine and (b) Midland Main Line electrification.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 1 July, UIN 4428 http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=4428.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of the Great Western Main Line electrification project his Department plans will use (a) Series 1 overhead line equipment, (b) Series 2 overhead line equipment and (c) overhead line equipment built to other designs.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: On the Great Western Network Rail have informed me that they plan to electrify 1100 single track kilometres with Series 1 Overhead Line Equipment. They have a further 160 single track kilometres which is still to be determined.

Department for Transport: Accountancy

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) subject and (b) date has been of all formal written directions sought by his Department's Permanent Secretary since 4 September 2012.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The precise reference to the two directions (Northern rail franchise; and Manston Airport) can be found in the Governance Statement (page 137 of the Annual Report and Accounts). The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/440269/dft-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015-_web-version_.pdf

Railway Stations: Greater London

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the statement of 25 June 2015, Official Report, column 1067, on Network Rail, what assessment he has made of the potential effect the measures approved in this will have on plans for station improvements and step-free access for (a) Peckham Rye station and (b) Queens Road Peckham station in south London.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The lift to provide step free access at Queen’s Road was completed in early 2014. There is no reduction in the funding available for other station enhancements.

London Bridge Station

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2015 to Question 228504, what progress he has made on considering the case for compensation for passengers using Southern Railway's Metro Line who have been affected by the regular disruption to rail services at London Bridge.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UK Membership of EU: British Nationals Abroad

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of (a) the likely numbers of British citizens resident elsewhere in the EU who would return to live in the UK in the event of a British exit from the EU and (b) the potential effect of such returnees on public services.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), is focused on success: he believes he can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and will be campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

Ukraine

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reports that the situation on the ground in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine remains tense. A ceasefire agreed in Minsk on 12 February has led to a general reduction in fighting, and some withdrawal of heavy weapons. But some fighting has continued in Shyrokyne and Donetsk Airport, and heavy weapons continue to be used. The OSCE needs to be given full and unhindered access to all areas of the crisis zone so they can verify and monitor the heavy weapons withdrawal.The heavy fighting around Maryinka, near Donetsk, on 3 June constituted the most serious violation of the ceasefire under the Minsk agreements since February. The OSCE’s report of 3 June presented a clear picture of large amounts of heavy weapons from Donetsk moving westwards towards Maryinka, indicating this was a provocation by the separatists.

Russia: Sanctions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Mr David Lidington: EU sanctions are delivering a significant cost to Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The fall in the global oil price has driven an economic slump in Russia, including a shrinking economy and sharply declining currency. The wide-ranging restrictions of EU and US economic sanctions are exacerbating these negative trends. Sanctions are an important element of the range of diplomatic measures we are undertaking to effect a change in Russia’s behaviour, including to compel Russia to fulfil its obligations under the Minsk agreements. The EU stands ready to impose additional measures if necessary.

Nigeria: Capital Punishment

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Nigeria on the recent sentencing to death of nine people for blasphemy in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: We are aware of this case. It is the longstanding policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle: We continue to regularly raise these concerns with the Government of Nigeria and will continue to press them to abolish the death penalty.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which periodicals and newspapers his Department subscribes to; how many of each such periodical his Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) reviews subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals annually. I have placed a list of the periodicals and newspapers provided centrally in 2014 in the library of the House. The vast majority of those titles listed are provided in electronic format. The breadth of journals reflects the wide range of issues, events and crises the FCO’s staff around the world need to keep track of in order to protect Britain’s interests at home and overseas.The total cost of periodical subscriptions provided centrally in 2013-14 was £66,469.Electronic copies of newspapers and journals, procured as a single FCO-wide subscription, are available to all FCO staff via our Digital Library.Access to periodicals and newspapers procured centrally extends to all of the UK’s 267 embassies and diplomatic posts overseas as well as the FCO’s offices in London. Other subscriptions taken out by embassies and diplomatic posts or by individual departments within the FCO are funded from delegated budgets. As a result, comprehensive information on individual publications not procured centrally is not recorded and collating this information would incur disproportionate cost.



List of periodicals
(PDF Document, 90.48 KB)

Diplomatic Service: LGBT People

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department and UK embassies are taking to promote LGBT rights (a) in British Overseas Territories, (b) the Commonwealth and (c) globally.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works through our embassies and high commissions, and through international organisations, including the Commonwealth, the EU and the UN, to promote tolerance and non-discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) people and to address discriminatory laws, in particular those that criminalise homosexuality. The UK Overseas Territories are self-governing administrations with their own laws and constitutions and such matters fall within the remit of local legislatures. The FCO works with Overseas Territory Governments to ensure they adhere to international human rights standards generally and encourages them to pursue policies and, where appropriate, enact legislation guaranteeing LGB&T rights.As a member of the Commonwealth, the UK encourages both the Commonwealth Secretariat and our fellow member states to do more to protect the rights of its LGB&T citizens. Through our High Commissions, we continue to urge all Commonwealth States to review laws that criminalise homosexuality and that discriminate against people on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. At the same time, we raise cases of discrimination and violence against LGB&T people in individual Commonwealth countries.

Diplomatic Service: LGBT People

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on promoting LGBT rights (a) in British Overseas Territories, (b) in the Commonwealth and (c) globally in the last year.

Mr David Lidington: Over the past year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) promoted inclusive societies in all parts of the world including in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Terrirories, and condemned restrictions on and violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) people. In September 2014, we strongly supported the adoption of the UN’s second ever resolution on sexual orientation at the Human Rights Council and at the United Nations General Assembly. We worked hard to retain language in the biennial resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, which calls for the protection of the right to life of all people, including those targeted on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  In the Caribbean, we supported a regional workshop for LGB&T rights defenders. In Jamaica, we worked with the Jamaican police to improve the investigation of complaints and set up a public forum to tackle homophobic bullying in schools. Other examples may be found in our Annual Report on Human Rights, launched in April 2015.  The FCO regularly raises these issues with Territory governments.

Germany: Thalidomide

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage the German government to make a financial contribution to the UK survivors of thalidomide at their meeting with the Thalidomide Trust on 7 July.

Mr David Lidington: None. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided assistance to the Thalidomide Trust in arranging meetings with the appropriate German officials so that the Trust can make their own representations directly. In 2012, the Department of Health made a grant of £80 million payable over ten years to help meet the health needs of thalidomide survivors.

Afghanistan: Armed Forces

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British personnel are deployed in Afghanistan in non-combat roles.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During 2015 around 110 UK civilian members of staff from across Government will be based at the British Embassy in Kabul, excluding security and logistics personnel. This figure also excludes members of HM Armed Forces and others deployed as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission.

EU Reform

Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether it is legally possible for each other EU member state to commit to a future change to the Lisbon Treaty before formal processes to agree those changes have been gone through in each of those countries.

Mr David Lidington: The process for amending the EU Treaties is set out in Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union. The representatives of the Member State governments agree the amendments which then need to be ratified by all the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear that the EU reforms that we seek must be legally binding and irreversible and that there must be an agreement to change the treaties before the referendum in the UK.

Syria: Military Aid

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on support to the YPG and YPJ in repelling ISIS in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We recognise the difficult circumstances the Syrian Kurds face in the midst of the continuing civil war and their fight against ISIL. We welcome the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) and allied Free Syrian Army militia driving out ISIL from Tel-Abyad with the assistance of Coalition airstrikes.The UK is not providing any direct assistance to the YPG or its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD), although we are supporting Coalition airstrikes which have helped groups, including the YPG win significant victories on the ground. We remain concerned that they continue to maintain links with the Assad regime and the PKK, the latter of which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. In the past year, UK officials have discussed our concerns with the PYD.

Russia: Military Aircraft

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken in response to recent incidents of Russian jets operating near UK airspace.

Mr David Lidington: This year Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft have deployed on four occasions to escort Russian aircraft in the vicinity of the UK – a similar level to previous years. At no point did these aircraft represent a threat or enter UK sovereign air space. In January, we summoned the Russian Ambassador to account for a Russian military flight that caused disruption to civilian air traffic over the English Channel.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Visits Abroad

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to which countries (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department plan to pay official visits in the next 12 months.

Mr David Lidington: Travel in pursuit of UK interests, outside regular international meetings (e.g. UN General Assembly; EU Foreign and General Affairs Councils; G7) can often arise at short notice in response to international events. Long-term Ministerial travel plans are not announced in advance for security reasons.

Eritrea: National Service

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking in response to findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea on national service conscripts being used within foreign-operated companies.

Mr David Lidington: National service is compulsory in Eritrea and many conscripts serve indefinitely. The national service system was one of the reasons the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) listed Eritrea as a “Country of Concern” in its annual Human Rights Report (2014). The report set out that civilian national service has often included work for government and state-owned companies on low salaries, exposing the Government of Eritrea to the allegation of using forced labour. We have been clear to the Government of Eritrea that it must amend or abolish its national service system. Eritrean government representatives have assured UK officials that the term of service will be strictly limited to 18 months for all new recruits starting from March 2015. We will continue to monitor the situation closely. FCO officials recently met with representatives of the Canadian mining company, Nevsun Mining, who operate the largest mine in Eritrea. Nevsun Mining set out the strict procedures that they had in place to prevent national service conscripts working at the mine.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Diseases

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of the research and development pipeline for diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for poverty-related and other neglected diseases.

Grant Shapps: Historically there has been a lack of investment in the development of diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for poverty-related and other neglected diseases. In the last 15 years increasing investments in research have resulted in over 200 products at various stages of development. A large part of this increase has been due to the establishment of a number of public-private product development partnerships (PDPs) developing a range of technologies for a number of different diseases.  PDPs aim is to accelerate the development of new products and to date they have developed over twenty new products. It has been estimated that there is around a 10% return on investment per annum from medical research. There is insufficient funding available to support the development of all the promising products currently in PDP portfolios and DFID works in partnership with others to encourage greater investment.

Nepal: Human Trafficking

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with its Nepalese counterpart on reports of an increase in child trafficking and exploitation following the earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Following the earthquake, DFID Nepal has been in constant touch with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the Department of Women and Children about the risks of child trafficking and exploitation. Within two days of the 25 April, DFID Nepal had approved the allocation of additional resources to combat the risks to child welfare and the safety of women and children. As part of a pre-existing programme (the £35 million, Integrated Program for Strengthening Security and Justice), UNICEF were authorised to send extra personnel to the worst-hit districts to support government protection agencies.  UNICEF has deployed 14 DFID funded Child Protection Officers in 14 disaster affected districts, to track and report any cases of child trafficking or exploitation. DFID is also working closely with the humanitarian cluster system on this issue. We are funding coordinator positions in both the Child Protection sub cluster and the Gender Based Violence sub cluster to ensure the issue is well managed and dealt with in a coordinated way.

Nepal: Disaster Relief

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the quality and quantity of aid (a) promised and (b) delivered to Nepal following the earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK Government alone has committed £33 million to the Earthquake response in Nepal. This is part of a wider global response to this disaster which currently stands at £371 million in pledged humanitarian support. Assistance from the UK Government will reach over 200,000 people with shelter; 80,000 with cash transfers in compliment to the Government of Nepal’s assistance; over 30,000 people with safe water, and improved hygiene and sanitation; 30,000 people with blankets, cooking sets, and other essential day-to-day household items; 15,000 women and girls with gender and protection initiatives; and over 3,000 people with rehabilitation services. We are also providing support to humanitarian logistics through aircraft and trucking, whilst ensuring information is central to the response through support to beneficiary feedback mechanisms and needs assessments.  DFID is working closely with trusted UN and NGO partners and experts in the humanitarian field to ensure that the supplies distributed are high quality. Emergency shelter supplies provided to our partners conform to international SPHERE and ISO standards for quality, and technical guidance from the Shelter Cluster also reflects these standards.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Kobane following the recent attack by ISIL.

Mr Desmond Swayne: We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians and humanitarian staff present in Kobane following recent reports of an ISIL incursion into the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that between 145 and 200 civilians were killed in the ISIL attack, and many more were wounded. We are watching the latest developments closely and continue to call on all sides of the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians.

Department for International Development: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which periodicals and newspapers her Department subscribes to; what quantity of each periodical is so obtained; and what the cost of such subscriptions was in 2014.

Grant Shapps: The Department for International Development has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Developing Countries: Sanitation

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken on improving sanitation and access to clean water in developing countries.

Grant Shapps: The UK Government committed to reach 60 million people in developing countries with our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes by December 2015. We are on track to reach this target. Contributions come from projects managed by DFID offices in 15 countries, from a partnership with UNICEF to deliver improved WASH in nine countries, and from a challenge programme which funds three consortia working in 12 countries. To date, our bilateral WASH programmes have reached 54.1 million people.  We also have a renewed commitment to help at least 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020.

Burundi: Refugees

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has allocated to each country for supporting refugees and internally displaced people resulting from the political situation in Burundi.

Grant Shapps: The UK Government is extremely concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Burundi and the flow of Burundian refugees to neighbouring countries. Although DFID does not have a bilateral aid programme in Burundi, DFID is providing £9.25 million to support relief efforts for refugees fleeing to Tanzania, and £3.9m for refugees in Rwanda. The UK contribution is equivalent to 9.9% of the $207 million UN regional appeal.

Department for Education

Education: Homelessness

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from local authorities (a) in and (b) outside London on the effect on education services in their area of out of area placements for homeless families; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for regulations on out of area placements for homeless families. The Department for Education has no record of any recent representations from local authorities on this specific issue.

College of Social Work

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the College of Social Work is planned to close.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funds her Department has allocated to the College of Social Work to date.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who she plans will assume the functions relating to advising on social worker training provided by the College of Social Work after its closure.

Edward Timpson: The College of Social Work is an organisation independent from government and the decision to close the College was taken by the College Board, not government.   Despite plans for the government to continue funding in 2015-16, the College has been unable to secure sufficient membership from the profession and it is operating at a substantial loss.  To date, the Department for Education has allocated a total of £4,251,274 to the College. The government has provided over £8.2 million of grant and contract funding since 2009. No decision has yet been made as to which organisations will assume the functions provided by the College of Social Work after its closure.

Child Protection Taskforce

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the remit of the Child Protection Taskforce is.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who she plans will advise the Child Protection Task Force on child protection; and what resources the Government has allocated to its work.

Edward Timpson: The role of the Child Protection Taskforce is to drive forward fundamental reform in order to protect the most vulnerable children. It will be responsible for leading improvements across police, social services and other agencies, focusing on transforming social work and children’s services. Ministers are currently considering how best to consult experts and identify the resources required for the successful delivery of the taskforce.

Parkfield School

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of the one year delay in Parkfield School being able to move to a new site at Hurn; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Education Funding Agency first became aware that the site purchased for Parkfield School at Hurn, Christchurch, is a habitat for bats; and whether a full site survey was carried out prior to that purchase.

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what species of bat have been discovered at the site of Parkfield School, Hurn; which specific buildings on that site are bat habitats; what measures are being taken to remove or relocate those bats; and on what date the process of removal and relocation is expected to be complete.

Edward Timpson: We do not expect there to be any cost to the public purse as a result of the one year delay in Parkfield School being able to move to the new site at Hurn.   The Education Funding Agency first became aware that the Hurn site is a habitat for bats in June 2015. A full site bat survey was not undertaken prior to the purchase of the Hurn site for Parkfield School as these are usually undertaken by contractors as part of the design and planning permission process.   Initial findings indicate that the Common Pipistrelle bat is the emergent species. Local activity of Soprano Pipistrelle and Noctule bats has also been observed. The bat surveys were undertaken as soon as it became evident they were necessary and completed last week. The survey information is currently being analysed and the final results of the surveys are expected in the next few weeks. An application to Natural England for bat removal licences will be made after planning approval is granted. Subject to planning approval the licences could be available towards the end of this year. Bat boxes will then be provided at agreed locations across the site prior to the demolition works commencing.

GCSE

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) maintained schools and (b) academies did not meet the standard of 60 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics and also had a below median score for the proportion of students making expected progress in (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2013-14,

Nick Gibb: The information requested can be derived from published key stage 4 school performance tables data for 2012[1], 2013[2], 2014[3] and OFSTED data[4].[1] File labelled KS4 XLS files at: www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2012/download_data.html[2] File labelled KS4 XLS files at: www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2013/download_data.html[3] File labelled KS4 XLS files at: www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html[4] File labelled ‘Inspection data for open maintained schools at 31 August 2014 (provisional)’ at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-sep-2013-to-aug-2014

GCSE

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools did not meet the standard of 60 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics and also had a below median score for the proportion of students making expected progress in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14,

Nick Gibb: The number of state-funded mainstream schools which did not meet the standard of 60 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics and also had a below median score for the proportion of students making expected progress in 2013-14 is contained within table S2 of the ‘Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2013 to 2014’ publication [1].Figures for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are in the Table S2 of the ‘Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: academic year 2011 to 2012’ [2] and ‘GCSE and equivalent results in England, 2012 to 2013 (revised)’ [3].[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2013-to-2014.[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-academic-year-2011-to-2012.[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised.

GCSE

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools which were rated good or outstanding did not meet the standard of 60 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics and also had a below median score for the proportion of students making expected progress in 2014.

Nick Gibb: The information requested can be derived from published key stage 4 school performance tables data[1] and OFSTED data[2].  [1] KS4 XLS file found at: www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html.[2] File labelled ‘Inspection data for open maintained schools at 31 August 2014 (provisional)’ at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-sep-2013-to-aug-2014.

Leader of the House

Public Bills

Phil Boswell: To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2015 to Question 4228, what criteria he used to determine whether the legislation in question affected a particular country or combination of countries.

Chris Grayling: The assessment was made on the basis of the impact of the legislation, rather than their territorial extent. The proposals that I announced on 2 July on English Votes for English Laws provide for a straightforward test, based firmly on the devolution settlement.

Public Bills

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2015 to Question 4228, which bills affect (a) England only and (b) England and Wales only.

Chris Grayling: The following Government bills introduced in the last Parliament affected (a) England only and (b) England and Wales only. No account was taken in this assessment of any minor or consequential effects.a) England onlyEducationb) England and Wales onlyLocal Government FinanceCharitiesLocal GovernmentScotlandPolice (Detention and Bail)Sunday Trading (London and Olympic Games and Paralympic Games)Water Industry (Financial Assistance)DefamationMental Health (Approval Functions)Criminal Justice and CourtsLocal Audit and AccountabilityRehabilitationModern Slavery

Public Bills

Phil Boswell: To ask the Leader of the House, which Government bills have been introduced with provisions which extended to Wales in each of the last five years.

Chris Grayling: All Government bills introduced in the 5 years of the last Parliament included provisions which extended to Wales with the exception of the Partnerships (Prosecution) (Scotland) Bill (2012-13 Session).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Thames Tideway Tunnel

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on government financial support to enable the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project to attract private sector financing.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the likelihood and scale of the risks associated with the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project that may create exposure for the public purse.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingent financial support is being provided for project risks associated with the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project; and what limit has been set on such support.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether state aid approval from the EU Commission has been granted for the financial support package for the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what circumstances the Government would invest equity in the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what commitment she has made to provide loans should the Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project be unable to access debt capital markets.

Rory Stewart: A Written Ministerial Statement of 5 June 2014 (Official Record, Col. 11WS) sets out the reasons for the Government’s decision to provide contingent financial support for the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) project, and the scope of that provision. The TTT project will be financed and delivered by a competitively tendered Infrastructure Provider (IP), which will be an entirely separate entity to Thames Water. This will keep project costs down and provide value for money for customers.   The support package is designed to make sure taxpayers’ interests are protected throughout the construction phase to which it applies, and the likelihood of it being called upon is remote. If the support package is not called upon, there will be no cost to the taxpayer. The IP will pay the Government for certain limbs of the support package at an appropriate commercial rate. The precise financial details of the package and particular circumstances under which Government equity or short-term loans would be provided to the project remain commercially sensitive while procurement of the IP is ongoing.   The Government formally notified the European Commission of the State Aid implications of the support package earlier this year. The EC has yet to announce its decision on State Aid approval. We will inform Parliament of the outcome of Thames Water’s procurement of the IP when it is complete.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which periodicals and newspapers her Department subscribes to; how many of each such periodical her Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

George Eustice: This information is not held centrally. However, most newspapers, periodicals and trade publications are ordered through the Defra library service, Private Offices and Press Office.   Based on records from January 2015, the following newspapers and periodicals are subscribed to by these areas, and the total number of each purchased across the whole year is in the table below:   PublicationTotal number of copies in 2015 Angling Times52Country Life104The Economist112ENDS Report144Farmers Guardian412Farmers Weekly1,132Fishing news152The Grocer144Horticulture Week52House52ITI Magazine12Meat Trades Journal24Materials Recycling World26The Spectator48Veterinary Times52Waste Management and Research12Daily Express564Daily Mirror528Daily Mail564Daily Star48Daily Telegraph816Financial Times528The Guardian816The Independent768The Independent on Sunday48Mail on Sunday48The Observer96Sunday Express48Sunday Mirror48Sunday People48Sunday Telegraph96The Times880The Sun564The Sun on Sunday48ENDS Europe1FT.com1FOI Journal1Marine Scientist1New Scientist.com1thesun.co.uk1   The publications listed are those to which the Core Department currently subscribes. The number of copies relates to the volume on order for the calendar year 2015.  Spend on transactions classified on the Department’s financial system as ‘Subscriptions to Publications’ totalled £24,684 in 2013-14, the last complete financial year for which audited information is available. There may be additional transactions relating to periodicals which have been classified in other ways on the financial system, but identification of these could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to roll out further badger cull trials; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government is committed to our strategy to make England free of bovine TB, of which culling badgers in areas where the disease is rife is a key element.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy that part-payments under the Basic Payment Scheme be made when the full payments have not been processed.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency will be making full payments as early as possible in the payment window. Mark Grimshaw, RPA Chief Executive, has said that payments will start from December and in his view, the vast majority will be made by the end of January. This is in line with the experience of recent years.

Tree Planting

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department is providing to tree planting programmes to at least maintain the current level of carbon capture capacity from trees.

Rory Stewart: As promised in our manifesto, we have committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, which we plan to do primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme. This scheme aims to invest £18 million in new woodland planting each year. A number of other initiatives are also in place, including the Woodland Carbon Code, to attract other funding to ensure that planting rates are maintained at the average level over the previous Programme of 2,600 hectares per year. This will, according to the most recent greenhouse gas inventory projections, increase the amount of carbon removed by England’s woodlands from 5.0 million tonnes carbon dioxide in 2014 to 5.9 million tonnes in 2020.   We also remain strongly supportive of sector-led initiatives, such as Grown in Britain and the Roots to Prosperity strategy, in their work to develop and strengthen the woodland economy and thereby attract further private investment to help increase woodland creation capacity.

Food: Origin Marking

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what checks her Department carries out on the traceability of food labelled with its country of origin; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Trading Standards officials in Local Authorities are responsible for checking that food labelling information is accurate, and does not mislead the consumer. Recently, we have introduced new rules on country of origin labelling for unprocessed pork, lamb and poultry meat. Similar rules for beef have been in place for some time. As part of these rules, food sector businesses are required to have systems in place to ensure that information on the country of origin is passed on at each stage of the supply chain. Pre-packaged meat must also have a batch code, identifying the country of origin of the meat. When an enforcement officer identifies a potential problem with a country of origin claim they will follow the documentation back through the supply chain to check its accuracy.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 603, what estimate she has made of the likely relative benefit for supply chains in (a) the UK and (b) other countries of investment in off-shore wind.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is working together with the Offshore Wind Industry to build a competitive and innovative UK supply chain that delivers and sustains jobs, exports and economic benefit for the UK.Currently the offshore wind sector employs around 8,000 people directly, with a similar number of indirect jobs in the wider supply chain. With an investment opportunity of between £16bn - £21bn in the UK by 2020 plus export opportunities. Offshore wind has the potential to support tens of thousands of jobs and contribute billions to our economy.The Department has not estimated the likely relative benefits for the supply chain in other countries of investment in off-shore wind.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria she proposes to set for independent monitoring of the environmental effects of shale gas operations at proposed shale gas sites.

Andrea Leadsom: A research consortium led by British Geological Survey (BGS) has established a programme of environmental monitoring in Lancashire, and any criteria are a matter for the consortium to determine, independent of Government. BGS has stated that the information collected from the monitoring programme will be made freely available to the public and also support peer-reviewed science.The Autumn Statement in December 2014 announced funding for the gathering of independent evidence about shale gas to be presented directly to the public. This work is under development.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Procurement

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to improve its delivery of major projects.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 02 July 2015



We are improving the skills of the project leaders of our major projects through attendance at the Major Projects Leadership Academy established by the Major Projects Authority.Similar training is available to others working on major projects. The Department also has a range of guidance, in-house training and specialist support available to those working on its projects and work to establish the Project Delivery profession in DECC is underway.DECC’s major projects also benefit from assurance provided within the department from their own governance structures, scrutiny of progress from the relevant corporate governance Committees and external assurance provided through the Major Projects Authority.The effectiveness of all of these activities is regularly assessed so that improvements can be made when needed.

Hydroelectric Power: Scotland

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to Energy companies' Consolidated Segmental Statements 2009 to 2014, what assessment she has made of the reasons why the cost of hydro-electricity to Highland and Island consumers has risen in tandem with gas prices although the cost of producing hydro-power has not changed.

Andrea Leadsom: The retail price that consumers pay is determined by a number of elements, including the wholesale price of electricity across GB, which is set in the wholesale market. The wholesale market price is usually determined by electricity produced by gas plants. Therefore even if hydroelectricity has lower costs, consumers across the country face electricity prices that are correlated with the gas price.

Renewable Energy: Expenditure

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2015 to Question 3414, what estimate her Department has made of projected expenditure on (a) Contracts for Difference and (b) Renewables Obligation since (i) publication of Table 2 in Annex A of the Annual Energy Statement in November 2014, and (ii) the Round One allocation in February 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: The Levy Control Framework (LCF) controls the support the Government can provide to the development of low carbon electricity. The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference are two low-carbon generation support schemes which are included in the LCF. The cost of the LCF is kept under constant review - we update our modelling and assumptions as things change, reflecting the challenges in making long-term forecasts in a changing and very active energy market.Since the publication of the Annual Energy Statement in November, the results of the first CfD auction round have been announced and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407059/Contracts_for_Difference_-_Auction_Results_-_Official_Statistics.pdf .A further update will be published in due course.

Electricity Generation: Competition

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will place in the Library the unredacted version of the Competition Market Authority report, Analysis of generation profitability, published on 25 February 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is an independent body. The Government does not have access to the commercially confidential information that market participants have provided to the CMA as part of the investigation into energy markets. It is a matter for the CMA to determine what information is put into the public domain.

Nuclear Power Stations: Safety

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings of the report published by Greenpeace on 30 June 2015 that nuclear regulators in Europe have failed to act on lessons from the Fukushima tsunami incident in April 2011; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK Government, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and operators have acted on lessons from Fukushima.In 2011 the then Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change commissioned a report from the UK Chief Nuclear Inspector, the Weightman Report, on the implications of the events in Japan and the lessons to be learned for the UK nuclear industry. Acting on the recommendations of the independent Weightman report, an extensive programme of improvements has been undertaken by operators, the ONR and Government.In addition, the UK took part in the European “Stress Test” process, publishing its findings in 2011. In December 2012 the ONR published the UK National Action Plan for meeting the recommendations from the stress tests and ONR’s own reports. ONR has published a number of progress updates to the National Action Plan, and most recently did so in December 2014. The ONR’s updated National Action Plan report provides evidence that all stress test actions are either completed or have a planned completion date. Government and the ONR will continue to oversee implementation of the lessons learned from Fukushima to ensure all relevant work is satisfactorily completed and agreed timescales are met.The UK Government is determined to deliver significant new nuclear generation. Nuclear power is an important part of our energy mix now, and will continue to be in the future. The UK has one of the most robust regulatory and safety regimes in the world, and the sector operates on the principle of continuous improvement.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make a comparative assessment of progress in meeting targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive by the UK and other EU member states.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK is continuing to make progress towards the EU Renewable Energy Directive target of 15% of final energy consumption from renewable sources. We are on track to meet the next interim target for 2013/14; provisional figures published on 25 June 2015 show 6.3% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources in 2013/14 against a target level of 5.4%. We will be reporting final figures at the end of the year.Further information on the progress of the EU overall and individual Members States can be found on the Eurostat website:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/shares.

Carbon Sequestration: Trees

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the importance of trees and tree planting to achieving carbon capture.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Renewable Energy: Northern Ireland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on what dates meetings have taken place between her Department and the Northern Ireland Executive on Contracts for Difference; and on what dates future such meetings are planned.

Andrea Leadsom: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with Jonathan Bell, her counterpart within the Northern Ireland Executive, on both the 10th and the 16th of June.DECC officials regularly engage with their counterparts in the Executive, holding regular meetings to inform and discuss the work being undertaken on support for renewables in Northern Ireland, including in relation to Contracts for Difference, and they will continue to do so.

Electricity Generation: Competition

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Competition Market Authority report Analysis of generation profitability, published on 25 February 2015, what the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation from electricity (a) generation and (b) supply were of each of the six largest energy companies, in the period covered by that report; and what comparative assessment she has made of the level of such earnings from electricity generation and supply.

Andrea Leadsom: The Competition and Markets Authority report “Analysis of Generation Profitability” published on 25th February does not contain the information requested (some of this information may be found in publically available financial statements).The Government supports the CMA’s independent investigation into energy market competition. The CMA’s legal powers provide access to the detailed information required to make a robust assessment of earnings and they have stated that they are continuing to look at overall profitability levels in both supply and generation.

Wind Power: Subsidies

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the number of jobs that will be lost as a result of the closure of the subsidy scheme for new onshore wind farms.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Oil: South East

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, over what timeframe she plans to issue licences for the extraction of oil deposits under Sussex and Surrey.

Andrea Leadsom: Applications made for onshore licences under the 14th Onshore Licensing Round are currently under consideration. The next step will be the publication of a consultation on the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 and the Oil and Gas Authority aims to announce awards later in the year.

Attorney General

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Attorney General, how many sexual offences leading to prosecution there have been in (a) North Wales and (b) the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of defendants whose prosecution was completed and where the principal offence at finalisation is categorised as a sexual offence.   During each of the last ten years the number of defendants prosecuted, in (a) North Wales and (b) England & Wales, whose principal offence was identified as a sexual offence, is as follows:North WalesEngland & Wales2005-200611311,4812006-200711811,1292007-200810611,0992008-200912510,8782009-20109911,1742010-201116212,4722011-201212511,7352012-201312411,0022013-201414512,0402014-201522513,778Data Source: CPS Case Management Information SystemIt is not possible to disaggregate figures to show separately the volume and outcome of proceedings for individual offences within the Sexual Offences Category. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by his Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office has made one public appointment between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015; Isobel Garner was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 1 April 2015.

Ministry of Justice

Reoffenders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders had (a) between 15 and 49, (b) between 50 and 99 and (c) 100 or more convictions in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous: The proportion of offenders with previous convictions has been falling over recent years but it is still too high which is why we have reformed the way offenders are managed in the community. We are now enabling the voluntary, public and private sector to help offenders turn away from crime. Our probation reforms also ensure that, for the first time in recent history, those sentenced to less than 12 months in custody receive support on release.Table 1: Number of offenders1 convicted of any offence2,3 by number of previous4 convictions in England and Wales, 2014   Year Number of previous convictions  Between 15 and 49 previous convictionsBetween 50 and 99 previous convictions 100 or more previous convictionsTotal number of offenders2014Number112,75114,3681,926 489,458%23.042.940.39-  Source: Ministry of Justice, Police National Computer (PNC)  Notes: 1. Figures are based on counting the number of occasions an offender was convicted of an offence in England and Wales in 2014. This means an offender can appear more than once in the totals for each year if the offender was convicted on multiple occasions in that year.2. Indictable offences including triable either-way offences.3. Recordable summary offences are defined as offences that can attract a custodial sentence plus some additional offences defined in legislation. A range of less serious summary offences, such as TV licence evasion and many motoring offences are not recorded on the PNC. Therefore these figures are an undercount of the true number of cautions and convictions given for these types of offences.4. Figures are based on counting the number of occasions on which offenders have previously received a conviction for any offence recorded on the Police National Computer, including some offences committed outside of England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, only the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted.5. All data have been taken from the MoJ extract of the Police National Computer. This includes details of all convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings given for recordable offences (see www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/schedule/made for definition). It is therefore possible that some offenders presented in the table above have previously also received convictions for offences not recorded on the PNC.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle prisoners being radicalised by religious extremism; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: We are alert to the risks posed by individuals who may wish to radicalise others, and we are committed to tackling radicalisation in prisons as an important element of our responsibility to protect the public and reduce re-offending. NOMS has in place a wide-ranging programme of work to identify and manage the risks of extremism and radicalisation amongst offenders, which includes intelligence management and sharing, staff training and offender management and interventions. NOMS contributes to the cross-Government Counter Terrorism Strategy CONTEST, and works with Law Enforcement Agency partners and alongside other Departments to manage the threat posed.

Human Rights Act 1998: Northern Ireland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has held with the Northern Ireland Executive on repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its potential effect on the Good Friday Agreement.

Dominic Raab: We will consider the implications of a Bill of Rights on devolution as we develop our proposals, and we will fully engage with the devolved administrations.

Family Law

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family law cases have cited the Human Rights Act 1998 since that Act came into effect.

Caroline Dinenage: Applications to the Family Court are made and recorded by reference to the relevant provision in family law. Details of how many family law cases specifically cited the Human Rights Act 1998 since it came into force could only be obtained by manually checking every case file at disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office

Police and Crime Commissioners

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to specify that the next elections of police and crime commissioners are conducted under the first-past-the-post system.

John Penrose: Holding answer received on 22 June 2015



The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 requires Police and Crime Commissioner elections to use the Supplementary Vote System. As with all electoral processes, this will be kept under review.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Roger Mullin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the contributions by the Leader of the House of 18th June 2015, Official Report, columns 478-80, how many drafts of the forthcoming report by Sir John Chilcot into the Iraq War have been received by the Government; and on which date each such draft was received.

Matthew Hancock: None.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Tim Farron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times Ministers in his Department have met officials working on the Chilcot Inquiry since that Inquiry commenced.

Tim Farron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with Sir John Chilcot in the last year.

Matthew Hancock: The Chilcot Inquiry is independent of Government. No current Cabinet Office Ministers have met with Sir John Chilcott or any of his officials since the inquiry began.

Prostate Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Letter to Member - Prostate Cancer
(PDF Document, 69.09 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Tourism: Urban Areas

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support tourism to market towns.

Tracey Crouch: The Government bodies VisitBritain and VisitEngland promote British holidays to overseas and domestic tourists, notably through the GREAT campaign We also support the development of market towns for tourists and locals alike with specific funds. Under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Rural Development Programme, approved LEADER Local Action Groups may fund tourism activity in towns with a population less than 10,000 (which are classified as rural) or within designated “hub towns” that are designated as a local priority for funding.  There is also the Department for Communities and Local Government's funded Town Teams programme. This was set up to help the country’s high streets and town centres adapt to changing trends and consumer behaviour, and can be used to promote tourism where market towns decide that is right for them.

Broadband

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with EU bodies on the definition of broadband that can be described as superfast; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The EU broadband guidelines published in 2013 define superfast broadband as over 30 Megabits per second. The UK was fully involved in developing those guidelines.

Rugby: World Cup

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of tickets for the 2015 Rugby World Cup available on the secondary market.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the average price of a ticket for the 2015 Rugby World Cup bought from the secondary market.

Tracey Crouch: I have made no assessment. My officials are in regular contact with the ER2015 about ticket sales, including the secondary market.

Public Libraries: WiFi

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3327, on public libraries: wifi, for what reasons it is impractical to place his current list in the Library.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Further to my answer to Question 3327, it was considered impractical to release the list because it was drawn from out of date information held from April 2015. DCMS has since received new data which is being incorporated into the list of public libraries without Wifi and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.

Treasure Act 1996

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to review the Treasure Act 1996.

Mr Edward Vaizey: My Department will be conducting a public consultation later this year which will contain a number of proposals relating to the definition of Treasure and other measures set out in the Treasure Code of Practice. The Government's response to the consultation will be published thereafter.

Portable Antiquities Scheme

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the continued viability of the Portable Antiquities Scheme after changes to its funding by the British Museum.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The 2015-16 resource allocation given to the British Museum by my Department includes funding for the administration of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and allows the British Museum to determine how the Scheme is resourced within its overall funding settlement. The Portable Antiquities Scheme, which recorded its one millionth find in 2013, continues to be a hugely valuable resource which broadens our understanding of history and archaeology and allows full public engagement with the process. I have made no assessment of the impact that the changes in funding arrangements have had on the Scheme as I believe it is right that the British Museum has more freedom to make its own decisions on spending in this area.